NORTH AUGUSTA – The Augusta GreenJackets loaded the bases twice but did not score a run in either inning as the Charleston RiverDogs’ pitching staff continuously showed the ability to tightrope out of danger in a 4-1 game Thursday night.
On paper, the matchup previewed as a pitchers’ duel between Gary Gill Hill of Charleston and Didier Fuentes of Augusta, and through three innings that proved the case. Fuentes retired the first eight batters he faced and worked around a two-out walk and single in the third to extend his scoreless streak to 14 innings. Gill Hill was far from perfect, especially in the second, as the GreenJackets used two singles and a walk to load the bases with one out. Gill Hill doubled down, forcing Lieker Figueroa and Isaiah Drake to pop up and keep the game scoreless.
Charleston dominated the middle innings, scoring at least one run in the fourth, fifth and sixth innings to take a lead they would never give back. The RiverDogs scored two unearned runs to take the lead off of Fuentes thanks to an E5 and an RBI single from Raudelis Martinez. Angel Mateo’s two-out RBI knock in the 5th was the lone earned run charged to Fuentes, who took a tough-luck loss despite hurling five respectable innings. Enderson Delgado would begin the sixth against Juan Sanchez with a solo blast over the TaxSlayer Terrace in left for the final RiverDog run of the night.
The GreenJackets got on the board for the first and only time in the bottom of the sixth, as Kade Kern hammered a hanging slider from Gill Hill beyond the concourse in left field, his fourth homer of the year and second in the last four games. The sixth would be Gill Hill’s final frame, as the righty struck out seven and allowed just the one run in his third win of the year.
Neither side would score beyond the sixth, although the GreenJackets gave it a go in the eighth against the bullpen. Making his full-season debut, Alexander Alberto worked a scoreless seventh before allowing a hit and a walk in the eighth, bringing the tying run to the plate and closer Gerlin Rosario to the mound. After walking the first man he saw to load the bases, Rosario struck out Robert Gonzalez and Joe Olsavsky to hold the lead and silence the SRP Park crowd.
After two wins in three tries to start the week, the RiverDogs are back to even in the early stages of the second half with a 3-3 record. Crafty lefty Chris Villaman takes the ball for Charleston Friday, with a win confirming that the RiverDogs will leave Augusta with a minimum of a series split. Kadon Morton continues his pitching transition with a start for the GreenJackets, looking to get back to their winning ways.
Augusta Good News is an award-winning member of the Georgia Press Association. Sign up for the weekly newsletter here.
