Kinston, NC - The Charleston RiverDogs snapped a seven-game losing streak with a 2-1 win over the Down East Wood Ducks on Saturday evening at Grainger Stadium. The Wood Ducks put the tying run at third base in the bottom of the ninth, before Samuel Mejia closed out the victory by inducing a shallow fly ball to left field.
The RiverDogs (25-36) and Wood Ducks engaged in a pitcher’s duel at the outset of the contest, similar to Friday evening. Chris Villaman continued his dominant start to the season by tossing 5.0 scoreless innings. The lefty allowed just two hits and struck out five. On the other side, Alejandro Rosario of the Wood Ducks whiffed seven batters over 6.0 scoreless innings.
The seventh inning began with the RiverDogs stuck on just one hit. They would take the lead without adding to that total in the seventh. Luke Savage entered from the bullpen and committed a throwing error on Jhon Diaz’s tapper in front of the plate to put a man on base. Enderson Delgado was hit by a pitch and Raudelis Martinez worked a walk to load the bases. Savage came back to strike out Ricardo Gonzalez for the second out and quickly jumped ahead of Bryan Broecker 0-2. However, the righthander committed a balk prior to the next pitch and the first run of the game was forced in.
Dalton Fowler began his second inning of work in the bottom of the seventh by allowing a leadoff double to Jesus Lopez. The catcher advanced to third with no outs as the tying run, but Fowler stranded him there. Enderson Delgado then provided a massive insurance run with a solo home run in the top of the ninth. That long ball was the team’s first in the month of June.
Down East (34-27) entered their final at-bat trailing 2-0 and with visions of a fourth straight walk-off win. Gleider Figuereo opened the inning with a double into the right field corner. He scored two batters later on an RBI single from Arturo Disla to make it 2-1. Mejia hit Beycker Barroso with a pitch to move the tying run to third base with only one out. Erick Alvarez hit a groundball to third that was gloved by Carlos Colmenarez at the hot corner. The infielder stepped on the base at third and fired across the diamond to potentially end the game, but the throw caromed off Martinez’s glove, allowing the tying run to move to third. Mejia got Tommy Specht to fly out to shallow left for the final out.
Fowler picked up the win by working 2.0 scoreless innings with a pair of punchouts. Mejia collected his second save, allowing one run in 2.0 innings down the stretch. He struck out three.
The teams combined for just eight hits in the contest. No player was responsible for more than one.
The series will conclude on Sunday afternoon at 1:00 p.m. RHP Santiago Suarez (4-4, 4.86) will start the final meeting of the regular season between the clubs for Charleston. RHP Kolton Curtis (2-2, 2.45) will work opposite Suarez for Down East.
The RiverDogs continue their hunt for a fourth-consecutive Carolina League championship in 2024. The full schedule of games is available here.
Charleston 2, Down East 1
June 15, 2024
Click here for the box score
Charleston (R-H-E): 2-3-2
Down East (R-H-E): 1-5-2
Win: Fowler (2-2)
Loss: Savage (1-1)
Save: Mejia (2)
HR: Charleston: Enderson Delgado (1, 9th inning, 0 on base)
HR: Down East: None
