(Media release from the Rome Braves):
Third baseman and clean-up hitter David McCabe starred in the Braves’ 12-3 rout of the Crawdads Sunday afternoon, going 3-for-5 and belting Rome’s first grand slam of the year while coming up a triple shy of the cycle.
Hickory drew first blood off Braves starter Hunter Riggins, plating one in the top of the first. Riggins would settle in nicely, however, and follow the first inning hiccup with five scoreless innings en route to his third victory of the season. The run support for Riggins came in the third in the form of a 10-run inning for the Braves lineup which sent 14 to the plate before recording three outs. McCabe obviously owned the biggest swing of the night with his grand slam to right center, but the subsequent run-scoring doubles from Ogans and Baldwin mixed in with singles from Quintero, Horne, and Parker erased the Crawdads chances in game six.
Singles from Alvarez, McCabe, and Horne added insult to injury as two more runs would come across to score in the sixth. Drake Baldwin would cap his series with a three-RBI day and Bryson Horne would finish 2-for-5 with a couple driven in of his own. Every one of the Braves starters recorded a base knock in the 13-hit performance.
Ben Dum, Jonathan Hughes, and Rob Griswold would split up the final three innings and only yield one run in the process.
The Braves will take a two-week road trip up to the northeast and challenge the Renegades and BlueClaws across twelve games. First pitch from Hudson Valley is set for 7:00 pm EDT Tuesday night.