The Hit Parade

There was a hit parade in Augusta, Georgia last night and unfortunately for the Tourists, it was the Greenjackets that were conducting the band. Augusta pounded out 23 hits in a 10-3 win and stranded 15 runners as well. The Tourists were lucky it wasn't much, much worse. The Greenjackets were 9 for 24 with runners in scoring position. That's 24 at bats with runners in scoring position in one game. That stat astounded me. Rosell Herrera drove in 2 for the Tourists giving him 65 on the season with a .360 batting average. Ben Hughes (7-9) absorbed the loss for the Tourists and when a team is hot like that, sometimes there is not a lot you can do.

The Streak Is Over

The Asheville Tourists beat the Augusta Greenjackets last night 7-5 in 11 innings ending their 5 game losing streak. Rosell Herrera doubled in Juan Ciriaco and Matt Wessinger in the top of the 11th to drive in the winning runs. Derek Jones homered for the Tourists, a solo shot in the 7th inning, his 13th, and drove in 3. Rayan Gonzalez got the win in relief (2-2) and Ryan Arrowood pitched the bottom of the 11th for his first save on the year.

The Slump Continues

The slump continues for the Asheville Tourists in a 3-2 loss to the Augusta Greenjackets yesterday. 7 hits and 2 runs. A return trip to McCormick field on the 25th will hopefully help snap the slump. They wasted another good starting performance, this time by Matt Flemer (6 innings, 2 earned runs) who fell to 1-2 on the season. Francisco Sosa had the lone RBI, his 64th, for the Tourists.

One More Loss

The Asheville Tourists' are getting pitching to good enough to rack up some wins, but are struggling to score runs, with defensive lapses at the wrong time, and this all adds up to long losing streaks. In last night's 4-1 loss to Augusta, the Tourists pitchers gave up only one earned run led by starter Jayson Aquino's 6 1/3 innings, 4 runs and the one earned run. The Tourists only had 6 hits and one run with Righfielder Derek Jones scoring on a sacrifice bunt by Juan Ciriaco in the top of the fifth, giving the Tourists a briefly held 1-0 lead. The Tourists made 3 errors, all in the bottom of the seventh inning, that allowed the Augusta Greenjackets to score 3 unearned runs and steal the win. Asheville's lack of offense is really hard to figure out. They are leading the league in several key offensive categories. They are leading the league in Batting Average, Slugging Percentage, OPS, stolen bases, and have fallen to second place in runs scored to Hagerstown thanks to their recent inability to touch home plate. Hopefully the answer will appear out of thin air real soon.

An Exorcism Is Needed On The Bats

I remember a scene out of the movie Major League in which they were looking to perform a ceremony on the bats to take the curse off of them and I am thinking the Asheville Tourists need the same thing. The character Sorano used golf head covers for his bats ("hats for bats") to try to solve his problems with hitting the curveball but the Tourists can't seem to hit anything thrown their way for over the past week. They were shut out by the Greenville Drive last night 6-0 and could only muster 6 hits. Team slumps are hard to explain and happen to just about every team over the course of a season. Hitting Coach Mike Devereaux has the pedigree and has had success in the pastand I would attribute the team slump to several new players, a lot of young players, and several who might be hitting the proverbial wall. Baseball, if anything, is a long season and it has been a rainy one with a lot of rain outs meaning a lot of makeup games and doubleheaders.

The Bats Remain Quiet

The Asheville Tourists were swept by the Greenville Drive yesterday in a doubleheader 4-2 and 5-2. The Tourists only managed 5 hits in the first game and 7 in the second game. Ben Hughes (7-8) pitched a complete game in the 5-2 loss only giving up one earned run. Ryan Arrowood took the loss in the other game giving up 3 runs in 3 innings.

Playing On Your Day Off

The Tourists beat the West Virginia Power 3-1 in a continuation of Sunday's rain-shortened game. I know the players have to hate playing on their day off. You get up for a game, the adrenalin starts flowing, and then you have to shut it down and pick it up again the next night. Starter T.J. Oakes (8-5) pitched 6 innings giving up 1 earned run for the win and Rayan Gonzalez struck out two in the top of the 7th to nail it down for his 9th save. Rosell Herrera and Tom Murphy had RBI's for the Tourists and the Tourists plated two runs in the bottom of the 5th to give the Tourists all they needed. They have a three game series at the Greenville Drive next.

A Power Outage

The Asheville Tourists offense has hit a little bit of a slump as the Tourists could only manage 1 run on 6 hits last night in a 5-1 loss to the West Virgina Power. Tourists starter Jayson Aquino took the loss (0-1) but he only gave up 2 earned runs in 6 innings and Andrew Brown, Trent Blank, and Patrick Johnson all pitched an inning a piece. Blank gave up 2 unearned runs and 3 of the Power's 5 runs were unearned. Patrick Johnson was used as a spot starter his previous two seasons in the minors and this is his first season as a full time reliever and his stat line is pretty impressive. 22 games, 25 innings, 8 earned runs, a 3-3 record, and a 2.66 ERA. His opponents only have a .184 batting average against him. His fastball hits about 90 MPH and his breaking pitches are showing some improvement. He was a 25th round draft pick in 2011 by the Colorado Rockies out of the University of North Carolina so he is a fairly local product.

A Rare Gem

I finally got to attend another Asheville Tourists game last night. I was not going to miss the "Moonshiners" throwback uniforms they were wearing. The uniforms date back to 1897 when Asheville was known as the Moonshiners. Then that nasty thing known as Prohibition occurred in 1919. They should have had the Moonshiners throwback uniforms on a Thirsty Thursday. That would have been apropos. Four Tourists pitchers combined on a five hit shutout, 3-0 over the West Virginia Power, led by starter Matt Carasiti's 6 2/3 innings. He struck out one and walked three. He worked his way out of jams on two or three different occasions, and even had one of third with only one out and did not allow him to score. He also picked a West Virginia runner off second base that eliminated one threat. Carasiti started tiring in the top of the seventh and Tourists manager Fred Ocasio brought in reliever Patrick Johnson, a UNC alumni, who struck out the only batter he faced. Left hander Michael Mason came in and pitched a scoreless top of the eighth and came in to close it out in the top of the ninth. He struck out two of the three batters he faced, including the final out to earn his 8th save and the second day in a row he has earned a save. The Tourists manufactured two runs in the bottom of the second to go ahead 2-0. Tom Murphy drew a walk, took second on a botched run down by West Virginia, Dillon Thomas singled and took second on the throw home, putting men on second and third with no one out. First Baseman Ben Waldrip drove in Murphy with a groundball to second base, his 4th RBI in two games with the Tourists. Second Baseman Juan Ciriaco drove in the second run with a sacrifice fly. Tom Murphy drove in Matt Wessinger with a bad hop single over second base in the bottom of the eighth inning to add an insurance run. The Tourists made several stellar defensive plays in support of the pitching. Third Baseman made a diving stop of a ground ball and threw out the runner at first, Rightfielder Derek Jones made a diving grab of a line drive in the right centerfield gap in the top of the fourth inning, and Leftfielder Dillon Thomas caught a long drive to left Centerfield in front of the 370' mark for the last out of the 8th inning. It was a good game and Asheville's pitching has really come alive in the last three games. Before the game, starter Matt Carasiti's ERA was was in the stratosphere at 9.20 and he came out and pitched his best game of the year. He located his pitches well, got tough when it counted, and let the defense do their jobs.

Let's Play Two

Ernie Banks was famous for saying "Let's play two..." meaning baseball is such a great game, let's play a doubleheader. That should be the Asheville Tourists battle cry this season as they have played several due to all of the rain outs. They swept a doubleheader from Delmarva yesterday 3-2 and 5-2. Stellar pitching was the key for the Tourists in both games. The first game was a continuation of the game that was started the night before and Ryan Arrowood came on in relief and pitched the middle four innings,giving up 1 run, for his fifth victory against zero losses on the season. Rayan Gonzalez lasted through a shaky ninth, where he walked the bases loaded, to get his 7th save. In the second game, starter Ben Hughes pitched a seven inning complete game, giving up 2 runs, 1 earned, struck out 3 and didn't issue a walk. Hughes evened his record at 7-7. The complete game was important as it saved the bullpen for another day. They have been battered and knocked around a little bit. The Tourists were led at the plate by First Baseman Ben Waldrip, playing his first game as an Asheville Tourist, who hit his first homerun and drove in three and Francisco Sosa hit his 12th homerun and accounted for the other two runs.

The Bats Come Back To Life

There is something about coming home to McCormick Field that bring the Tourists bats back to life. An eight run 6th inning pushed the Tourists to a 13-6 win over the Delmarva Shorebirds and it was highlighted by First Baseman Matt Argyropoulos bases clearing double. Rosell Herrera, Francisco Sosa, and Julian Yan all drove in two runs a piece and Yan hit his 5th homerun. Reliever Andrew Brown (5-0) was the beneficiary of the big inning as he came on in the top of the sixth and threw two innings of one hit baseball, striking out two. The Tourists had 11 hits, drew 5 walks, and were aided by two Shorebirds errors to score their 13 runs. Tourists starter Matt Flemer had a tough outing giving up 5 runs in 5 innings but the relievers- Brown, Trent Blank, and Rayan Gonzalez- only gave up 1 run in 4 innings.

A Doubleheader Sweep

The Asheville Tourists were swept by the Rome Braves yesterday 8-2 and 3-2. In game one, Shortstop Rosell Herrera had 3 of the Tourists 5 hits, boosting his average to .359, and drove in 1 of the 2 runs. He also made his 25th error. The Tourists were never really in contention in the first game. The Tourists gave up two runs in the bottom of the sixth inning to lose the second game. The Tourists could only manage 4 hits in the second game as did the Braves but Rome's Designated Hitter Edison Sanchez had 3 of the 4 hits and drove in the two runs that counted in the bottom of the sixth. The Tourists only scored 5 runs in the three straight losses to Rome. Rhey have a day off and then take on Delmarva in a three game set starting on Tuesday, July 9th.

Mostly Bats And Few Arms

The Asheville Tourists season is over halfway over and they are currently 44-38. The South Atlantic League plays two halves and the Tourists are 6-8 in the second half. The Tourists have been all about the hitting to this point in the season. They lead the "Sally" League in batting with a .283 average and are a distant second in homeruns with 74, far behind the Hickory Crawdads' 124. The Tourists are led by Rosell Herrera's .354 batting average, 14 homeruns, and 55 RBI's. Catcher Tom Murphy leads the team with 17 homeruns and 65 RBI's. Asheville also leads the league with 160 stolen bases with the top man being Juan Ciriaco with 32. He is currently tied for 4th in the league. The pitching isn't faring as well but it never really does in Asheville. The Tourists are third from the bottom with a team ERA of 4.53 but you have to take into consideration the McCormick Field factor. It is the minor league version of the "Launching Pad" when it comes to homeruns being hit out of there. The Tourists are led in wins by starter T.J. Oakes with 7 and in ERA by reliever Jesse Meaux (currently on the Disabled List) with 0.90.

A Short Week

The Asheville Tourists and the South Atlantic League have been socked in by rain almost all week as the Tourists have only played 3 games since July 1st. They swept a "doubleheader" over Greensboro on July 2nd, 5-3 and 3-2, and lost to Rome on Friday night 3-1. The rest of the games were lost to rain including a doubleheader last night against Rome. They have another doubleheader scheduled today against Rome. They return home against Delmarva on Tuesday night. This amounts to a week off in the middle of a long baseball season and this can only help young players who might be hitting the proverbial wall and help a pitching staff rest some tired arms.