Braves Blast Past Drive

Rome, GA – The Rome Braves win game two of their four game series with the Greenville Drive tonight 4-3 with a late inning comeback in front of 3,469 fans at State Mutual Stadium.

The Drive wasted no time getting on the board in the first inning when Argenis Diaz led off the game with a triple and scored on a Lars Anderson RBI infield single for the 1-0 lead. Greenville extended their lead in the second when Reid Engel and Matt Sheely started the inning with back to back walks. After a strikeout, Kris Negron walked to load the bases. Diaz then hit a sacrifice fly to right field scoring Engel and advancing Sheely, who later scored on a steal of home making the score 3-0.

Rome’s comeback started in the fifth when Concepcion Rodriguez singled and scored on a Travis Jones double to left field to shrink the lead to 3-1. In the sixth, Brandon Hicks led off with a double, advanced on a ground out, and scored on a sacrifice fly by Danny Brezeale making the score 3-2. Rome took the lead in the bottom of the seventh when Julio Franco singled to center followed by a massive two run home run to center field by Tyler Flowers (10) for the eventual final score of 4-3.

Jaye Chapman (2-1) picks up the win for Rome pitching three and two thirds of an inning allowing zero runs on two hits while striking out a season high seven and issuing one walk. Chris Province (3-1) is tagged with the loss after pitching two and two thirds of an inning giving up three runs on four hits. Ryne Reynose (5) picks up the save pitching a scoreless ninth inning.

The Braves continue their series with Greenville tomorrow night at 7 pm. It will be Collector Team Poster Night featuring the 2007 team presented by the U.S. Army and 95.7 FM The Ridge. For ticket information call 706-378-5144 or log on to www.romebraves.com.