Cup of Coffee: Hernandez leads Greenville to series lead

9/7 Cup of Coffee: Seven strong innings from Darwinzon Hernandez (pictured), and home runs from Roldani Baldwin and Tucker Tubbs pushed the Drive past the RiverDogs in the opening game of their playoff series, while the Spinners game was suspended due to rain.

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Greenville Drive 4, Charleston RiverDogs (NYY) 1 (Game 1, Best of 3)
Darwinzon Hernandez struck out six and allowed only two hits as he tossed seven innings of one-run ball. The lone blemish was a solo home run that gave the RiverDogs the lead in the sixth, but the Drive answered with RBI singles from Tucker Tubbs and Jagger Rusconi to take the lead in the seventh. Home runs from Tubbs and Roldani Baldwin extended the lead, and Joan Martinez shut the door with two scoreless innings of relief.

Bryan Mata will take the hill at home on Friday in the second game of the series as the Drive will look to clinch a birth in the championship series. 

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Lowell Spinners 0, Vermont Lake Monsters 0 (Suspended)

Wednesday's game was suspended after two innings, and will resume on Thursday at 11 a.m. Thursday's originally scheduled game will take place once that is completed, and the Spinners season will be over following the completion of the second game. Nick Duron got off to a hot start, striking out five while allowing only one walk over two innings. 

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Player of the Night: Darwinzon Hernandez, the 16th ranked prospect in the system, tossed a career-high seven innings in Greenville's win. The 20-year-old finished the regular season with a 4.01 ERA over 103.1 innings, striking out 116 while allowing only 85 hits. He did struggle with his control, issuing 49 walks and hitting 13 batters, but he did not allow a walk and hit one one batter on Wednesday. 

Photo Credit: Darwinzon Hernandez by Kelly O'Connor

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