After a tough 5-0 game one loss to the Lakewood BlueClaws Monday night, the Rome Braves sent Touki Toussaint to the mound for game two of the South Atlantic League Championship Series Tuesday.
With a 6-1 win, Rome was able to turn things around, offensively, and even the series at 1-1 before heading to New Jersey to wrap up the best-of-five series on the road.
Toussaint gave up only one run – a solo homer – on just four hits in eight innings, striking out six without giving up a walk. Touki was much improved over the course of the season with a first half ERA of 4.43, and 3.38 for the second half.
Carlos Castro, who drove in the first run of the game Tuesday was another Rome player who saw second half improvement, up from .181/.209/.458 to .297/.335/.527 down the stretch. He ended the night with two RBI’s.
Austin Riley had a big two out homer in the third inning, scoring Ronald Acuna, who has been rather hot himself since a return from the disable list (.342/.381/.553). Acuna also had an RBI in the game.
On the base pads, Rome stole five bases in the game.
Chase Johnson-Mullins came in for a scoreless 1-2-3 ninth to finish off the BlueClaws.
AllOnGeorgia writers Josh Brown and Blake Silvers contributed to the content of this game summary.
