Eastlake, OH – Through the first five innings, Dustin Richardson held the Lake County Captains scoreless and the Greenville Drive (47-62, 18-22) clung to a 1-0 lead. However, an overworked bullpen failed to hold onto the lead as the Captains (51-58, 20-18) exploded for all eight of their runs in the final three innings to defeat the Drive 8-3 Wednesday night at Classic Park.
Both Richardson and Captains starter Paolo Espino held their opponents scoreless through the first four innings. Richardson scattered five hits while Espino limited the Drive to just two hits.
But in the top of the fifth, it took just one hit for the Drive to break the scoreless tie and take a 1-0 lead. With one out, catcher Jon Egan blasted a 2-1 offering from Espino for his eighth homer of the year.
Unfortunately, the lead did not last long as the Captains got to Richardson and reliever Chad Povich in the bottom of the sixth. After issuing back-to-back one-out walks Richardson was pulled in favor of Povich, who surrendered a two-run triple to Cirilo Cumberbatch, the first batter he faced.
Brian Juhl and Fernando Pacheco each added RBI-singles in the sixth, and two throwing errors on the same play allowed the Captains to plate their fifth run.
Jason Place cut the Captains lead to just two runs in the top of the eighth, roping a two-run triple. Paul Smyth and Lars Anderson, who reached base on an error and single respectively, both scored on the play.
However, it would be the closest the Drive would get as Lake County added three more runs in the bottom half of the eighth. Roman Pena laced an RBI-triple and Adam Davis smacked a two-run homer to round out the Captains scoring.
Trailing 8-3 and having used six relievers in last night’s 14-inning affair, infielder Mike Chambers was brought in with one out in the eighth. Making his first professional pitching appearance, Chambers recorded the final two outs of the inning while allowing one hit.
The Drive look to take the four-game set versus the Captains in the series finale Thursday evening with first pitch set for 7:05 PM. Right-hander Brian Steinocher will toe the rubber for Greenville as Lake County counters with right-hander Josh Tomlin.
The Drive return home to West End Field on Wednesday, August 8th for their final eight-game home stand of the 2007 season. The August 8th game versus the Lakewood BlueClaws will kick-off the Drive’s “Crazy 8” promotion as well. Tickets to all Drive home games can be purchased by visiting www.GreenvilleDrive.com, or by calling (864) 240-4500.
NOTES: Mike Chambers was the first position player to make a pitching appearance in 2007…LF Reid Engel led the Drive with two hits
