Kelvin Beltre, Bullpen Lead Augusta GreenJackets to 3-2 Victory
For the second straight outing, Albert Abreu pitched quite well for the Charleston RiverDogs, but this time his club was unable to help earn him the victory, as two RBI by Kelvin Beltre gave the Augusta GreenJackets the victory. The come from behind win was set up by brilliant relief pitching from Cameron Avila-Leeper and Patrick Ruotolo, who combined to pitch four shutout innings in the 3-2 victory.
The RiverDogs took the early lead against Domenic Mazza. Diego Castillo started out the game by reaching on an error and moved to third when Estevan Florial followed with a double to left field. A ground out by Angel Aguilar plated Castillo and it was 1-0 Charleston.
In the fourth they extended their lead to two. Brandon Wagner drew the one out walk. Mazza attempted to pick off the runner, but his throw was wild and Wagner moved all the way to third. He scored on a soft double by Gilliam and it was 2-0.

That lead held through the first four innings as Abreu pitched beautifully, but in the fifth Augusta tied the score. Frandy De La Rosa singled to start the inning and Zack Bowers was hit by a pitch to put two on with no one out. A double play erased all by Bowers, but Anthony Marks kept the inning alive with a single that sent the runner to third. Following Marks stealing second, Sandro Fabian struck out, but the third strike got away on a wild pitch, allowing Bowers to score and Fabian to reach first base. Kelvin Beltre then ripped a ground single to left to tie the score.
In the sixth in looked like Charleston would retake the lead right away. Avila-Leeper relieved and was greeted by a single off of the bat of Donny Sands. Following a strike out, the reliever uncorked two wild pitches, putting the runner at third with just one out. However, he struck out Gilliam before getting Leonardo Molina to ground out to end the threat.
In the seventh it would be the GreenJackets that would take the lead. Brandon Van Horn walked to start the inning and moved to second when Marks beat out a bunt attempt for a base hit. Fabian followed with a sacrifice to move both runners into scoring position and Beltre’s sacrifice fly brought home Van Horn to give Augusta the 3-2 advantage.

In the ninth, Patrick Ruotolo came on for the Augusta GreenJackets. He retired the side in order for his first save of the season.
Cameron Avila-Leeper (1-1) earned the victory. He allowed 3-hits in 3-innings of work and also struck out 3. Kelvin Beltre was perfect at the plate, going 2-2 with 2-RBI and a walk. Anthony Marks and Frandy De La Rosa each had 2-hits as well. No Charleston RiverDogs player had more than one-hit.
Tomorrow is the rubber match of this three-game set. Freicer Perez (0-0, 8.44) looks to earn his first win for the RiverDogs. He will be opposed by D.J. Myers (0-2, 6.48) who is also looking for his first win as well. It’s an early affair as first pitch is 10:35.
By Robert Pannier