(Media release from the Rome Braves):
The Rome Braves and Asheville Tourists split a double header on Wednesday afternoon.
Game One:
Hunter Riggins would get the starting nod for Angel Flores’s Rome Braves on Wednesday morning in game one of the double header and would go straight to work. In just his second start of the 2023 campaign, Riggins would put up the best outing of his young career. Riggins would fan seven Asheville hitters, and allow no hits or walks through his five innings of perfect work. Riggins would make way for JJ Niekro, who would allow a home run to Logan Cerny to break up the perfect game, no hitter, and shutout all in one.
The Braves would go on two win game one by a final score of three runs to one. The victory was their thirteenth of the season.
Riggins: 5.0 IP, 0 R, 0 H, 0 BB, 7 K
Ogans: 2 H, 1 R, 1 RBI
Game Two:
Daniel Martinez would get the start in game two of Wednesday’s double header, and Asheville would make quick work of the righty. Asheville would plate two runs in the game’s opening frame thanks to a Zach Dezenzo homer. Asheville would tack on one more before the Braves could get on the board with Stephen Paolini’s RBI single in the home half of the second. The third inning would see Kevin Kilpatrick Jr wallop his third home run of the year to cut the deficit to one, and Stephen Paolini’s first long-ball of the season would give Rome the lead in the bottom of the fourth. A go-ahead sacrifice fly from Asheville in the top of the seventh would be the nail in the coffin for the Braves. Rome would fall by a final of five runs to four, giving them their fifteenth loss of the season.
Paolini: 2 H, 3 RBI
The Braves and Tourists will pick back up on Thursday with a 7:00pm first pitch.
