Riverdogs Spoil Braves Opener

Rome, GA – The Rome Braves lost to the Charleston Riverdogs 10-4 in the 2008 home opener at State Mutual Stadium before 3,663 chilly fans.

The Braves took the lead in the third inning 1-0 thanks to a solo home run by Concepcion Rodriguez (1). The lead was short lived however as Charleston jumped on Rome starter Jeff Locke for four runs aided by two fielding errors. Wady Rufino led off the inning with double to right field. Carmen Angelini then reached on an error by Freddie Freeman to put runners on the corners. Rufino then scored on a sacrifice fly by Austin Krum to tie the game at one a piece. Abraham Almonte walked moving Angelini to second with one out. Justin Snyder then tripled down the line scoring two runs for the 3-1 score. Rome third baseman Samuel Sime then dropped an infield fly by Jesus Montero scoring Snyder to make the score 4-1.

The Braves added a run in the fifth inning on an RBI single by Sime to close to gap to 4-2. But that is as close as Rome would get. The Riverdogs added one run in the sixth and five in the seventh to go on for the 10-4 victory.

Charleston’s Dellin Betances earns the victory (1-0) and Jeff Locke picks up the loss (0-1) for the Braves.

Game two of the four game series begins at 7pm Friday. Free magnetic schedules will be given to all fans presented by Coca-Cola. For ticket information, contact the Rome Braves at 706-378-5144 or log onto www.romebraves.com.