FREDERICK, MD – The Frederick Keys earned the doubleheader sweep over the Greenville Drive (Red Sox) Sunday afternoon and evening, winning game one by a score of 3-2 and game two by a score of 6-5 at Nymeo Field at Harry Grove Stadium.
The Keys picked up back-to-back victories after winning game two in walk-off fashion courtesy of a walk-off single from Elis Cuevas, as the Keys finished the homestand with a 3-1 record over the Drive.
Game 1:
After both sides went 1-2-3 in the first inning, Yeiber Cartaya struck out the side in the top of the second to keep the Drive off the board through two innings of play, with game one of two resembling a pitchers duel to close the series.
Following a scoreless third inning for the Keys and Drive, Greenville brought home the game’s first run on a solo homer in the top of the fourth, making it a 1-0 game entering the fifth Sunday afternoon.
In the bottom of the fifth, Braylin Tavera and Leandro Arias went back-to-back in terms of homers as each of their solo home runs put Frederick ahead for the first time of the afternoon at 2-1 approaching the sixth at Nymeo Field at Harry Grove Stadium.
An RBI fielders choice for Wehiwa Aloy put the Keys ahead 3-1 going into the seventh, as the insurance runs proved to come at a big time for Frederick up by two.
Despite the Drive getting one run back in the top of the seventh on an RBI single, Raimon Gomez picked up the save by getting the final out of the ninth, as the Keys won game one of the doubleheader by a score of 3-2 on Sunday Funday.
Game 2:
Greenville took an early 1-0 lead in the top of the first inning to start game two courtesy of a solo home run to left, handing the visitors the 1-0 edge approaching the second in the Key City.
After both sides went off the board during the second, Kiefer Lord struck out the side in the top of the third in order, keeping the Keys in the game down by only one heading into the fourth in the series finale.
Lord picked up a scoreless inning in the top of the fourth to finish off his outing strong, with the home team in Frederick still only trailing by one entering the fifth at Nymeo Field.
Braylin Tavera hit his second homer of the afternoon in the bottom of the fifth to give the Keys a 2-1 lead, as his two-run shot put the home team back ahead by one going into the sixth in Frederick.
The Drive retook the lead in the top of the sixth with two runs in the frame courtesy of a Keys error, but a double play turned by the Frederick offense limited the damage to just two runs allowed in the top of the frame.
Frederick tied things up at three apiece on an RBI triple from Wehiwa Aloy in the bottom of the sixth, taking the contest into the seventh with the Keys and Drive knotted up at three apiece Sunday evening.
With both teams going scoreless in the seventh which took the game to extras, Greenville took a two-run lead with two RBI singles in the top of the eighth, putting the Keys down to their final three outs in the bottom of the frame.
An RBI double from Ryan Stafford along with a Drive error made it a 5-4 game in the bottom of the eighth, with an RBI sacrifice fly from Ike Irish tying the game at five all.
After Aloy reached on an error to extend the inning, Cuevas delivered the walk-off single to right-center field, giving the Keys the 6-5 victory and sending the Keys home with a doubleheader sweep at Nymeo Field.
Following the league-wide off day on Monday, the Keys return to action on the road Tuesday night to take on the Jersey Shore BlueClaws for the first of a six-game series. First pitch is set for 6:05 p.m. in the series opener at ShoreTown Ballpark.