Zebulon, NC - The Charleston RiverDogs never led in a 5-2 loss to the Carolina Mudcats on Thursday night at Five County Stadium. The bullpen duo of Seth Chavez and Alexander Alberto provided a silver lining to the outcome, combining to work 4.1 scoreless innings.
For the first time in the series, Carolina (18-14, 58-38) started the scoring. In the bottom of the second, Filippo Di Turi singled and Yhoswar Garcia hammered a double off the left field wall to put two in scoring position with just one down. Luis Castillo opened the scoring with a bouncer up the middle that brought in Garcia from third.
The lead grew in the home half of the third. The Mudcats loaded the bases with no outs and Eric Bitonti kept the chain moving with an RBI single through the right side. Filippo Di Turi grounded out to third as one run scored, but the RiverDogs got two outs on the play as Yhoswar Garcia was caught rounding third too far. Carolina settled for the two runs, grabbing a 3-0 advantage.
Starting pitcher Drew Dowd almost escaped a jam in the fourth, only for Carolina to put a crooked number on the board. Castillo started the inning with a base hit and David Garcia followed by banging a double off the left field wall.With the infield in, Dowd induced a pair of groundouts to keep the runners where they started. He also moved ahead of Josh Adamczewski 1-2 before a wild pitch added another run for the Mudcats. Adamczewski made it hurt worse with a base hit to right that scored another run as the margin expanded to 5-0. Dowd took the loss after allowing five runs on eight hits in 3.2 innings.
The RiverDogs (19-12, 46-50) took a while to get started offensively. When Carolina went to the bullpen, they finally broke through. Angel Mateo opened the sixth inning with a hard groundball through the left side. Raudelis Martinez also singled with one out in the frame. A third single, from the bat of Carlos Colmenarez, drove in both runners and brought the road team within 5-2.
Colmenarez went 3-5 with a pair of RBI to lead all hitters in the game. Carolina outhit the RiverDogs by a 10-7 margin, receiving a pair of doubles from catcher David Garcia. Juan Baez also had a pair of hits for the Mudcats.
The series heads into the weekend with another 6:30 p.m. contest on Friday night. RHP Trevor Harrison (0-0, 5.84) is scheduled to make his first start on the road for the RiverDogs. On the other side, it will be Carolina RHP Josh Knoth (3-5, 3.95) toeing the rubber.
The RiverDogs continue their hunt for a fourth-consecutive Carolina League championship in 2024. The full schedule of games is available here.
Carolina 5, Charleston 2
August 1, 2024
Click here for the box score
Charleston (R-H-E): 2-7-0
Carolina (R-H-E): 5-10-0
Win: Durow (2-2)
Loss: Dowd (3-6)
Save: Pena (2)
HR: Charleston: None
HR: Carolina: None
