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.