Rome Sweeps Savannah

Rome, GA – The Rome Braves swept the Savannah Sand Gnats Friday night with a 6-5 victory in front of 3,718 fans at State Mutual Stadium. It’s the third time the Braves have swept Savannah this season.

Rome wasted no time jumping to an early lead in the first inning as Tyler Flowers had a two RBI double giving the Braves the 2-0 lead. Flowers later scored on an RBI single by Larry Williams giving Rome the 3-0 edge and Williams later crossed the plate on an RBI single by Victor Hernandez for the 4-0 score.

The Sand Gnats made it a 4-2 game in the second as Josh Thole singled and came around to score on a Leivi Ventura double to left-center. He later scored on an RBI single by Luis Rivera. The Braves made it 5-2 in their bottom half of the inning on an RBI single by Willie Cabrera scoring Robert Marcial.

Savannah got closer in the fourth as Rivera singled in Jonathan Sanchez making it a 5-3 game.

The Braves increased their lead in the fifth as Jon Mark Owings singled and advanced to second on a single by Williams. Owings advanced to third on a wild pitch and later scored on a Hernandez ground out for the 6-3 score.

The Sand Gnats got within a run but Rome pitching held on for the 6-5 win.

Jamie Richmond picks up the win (4-4) for Rome and Nelson Portillo is tagged with the loss (2-6) for Savannah. Ryne Reynoso earns his third save on the year.

The Braves travel to Columbus for a three game series before returning to State Mutual Stadium Tuesday July 17 at 7pm. For ticket information call 706-378-5144 or log on to www.romebraves.com.