Charleston RiverDogs drop a heartbreaker to Savannah

SAVANNAH — Charley Thurber was the hero for Savannah on Tuesday night as the Sand Gnats beat the first-place Charleston RiverDogs, 5-3, in front of 1,100 at Historic Grayson Stadium.

Savannah scored three times in the eighth inning, including a big two-run triple by Thurber, to erase a 3-2 deficit.

Charleston fell behind early with Savannah scoring an unearned run on a wild pitch following an error on center fielder Mason Williams in the second inning, then adding another on an RBI single by Aderlin Rodriguez in the fourth.

Trailing 2-0, the RiverDogs took their first lead of the game in the sixth inning. Angelo Gumbs doubled to lead off the inning off. Reymond Nunez then singled Gumbs home to cut the lead in half. Following a Mason Williams single, Cito Culver doubled to deep center, scoring both Nunez and Williams, and putting Charleston on top 3-2.

Bryan Mitchell started for Charleston and allowed two runs on four hits with four strikeouts over five innings of work en route to a no decision.

Chasen Bradford tossed two innings of scoreless relief and earned the win.

Coming up
Today’s game is scheduled to start at 7 p.m. Right-hander Domingo Tapia (3-2, 4.25 ERA) is scheduled to start for Savannah, and RHP Scottie Allen (1-2, 3.07 ERA) is scheduled to start for Charleston.