Jose Taveras Strikes Out 15 In BlueClaws Win

Jose Taveras struck out a franchise record 15 batters through eight innings to lead the Lakewood BlueClaws past the Greenville (S.C.) Drive 5-3 in South Atantic League play Saturday night.

Taveras (3-6) fanned six through the first four innings and nine over the last four frames. He allowed one run on two hits and walked none. Signed by the Philadelphia Phillies, low Class A Lakewood’s parent club, as an amateur free agent Nov. 10, 2013, Taveras is the third pitcher to finish eight innings in a game for the BlueClaws this season.

Robinson Tejeda (2001), Jason Knapp (2009) and Trevor May (2014) each struck out 14 in a game. Lakewood began play in 2001.

With Lakewood ahead 5-1, the BlueClaws’ Alberto Tirado walked two and allowed a two-run double with two out to Kyri Washington that pulled the Drive, a Boston Red Sox farm team, to within 5-3.

Zach Morris struck out Mitchell Gunsolus on three pitches for his second save of the season. Both came against Greenville.

The win pushed Lakewood to 31-41 overall, including 2-1 in the second half of the season. The Drive dropped to 38-34 and 1-2. Lakewood leads the season series 5-2.

Lakewood took a 2-0 lead in the top of the fifth on a two-out, two-run triple by Josh Tobias.
Taveras retired his first 13 hitters before Gunsolus doubled in the fifth and scored on a single by Tyler Spoon that sliced Lakewood’s lead to 2-1.

Lakewood scored two runs in the seventh on an RBI double by Grenny Cumana and an RBI single by Tobias. Cumana doubled home a ninth-inning run.

Cumana, who has hit safely in 13 of his lasrt 14 games, led Lakewood with three hits. Teammate Zach Coppola and Tobias each had two hits.