On A Roll

The Asheville Tourists pounded out 12 more hits last night in an 8-1 win over Greensboro and that gives the Tourists three straight games with double digit hits. That gives them 8 wins in 9 games since the All-Star break. In the first four games the pitching was dominanat and now the hitting has taken over although last night was a combination of the two. Second Baseman Michael Benjamin led the way at the plate, hitting his 7th homerun and driving in three, while the impressive RBI machines of Ryan Mcmahon and Jordan Patterson rolled on with 2 RBI's a piece. Tourists starter Konner Wade continued his improved pitched going 7 innings and giving up the lone run to get the win. He is now 6-7 on the season. Andrew Brown pitched 2/3 of an inning when Wade started getting tired and Troy Neiman pitched the final frame to finish it off.

The Hits Just Keep On Comin'

To borrow a line from a bad DJ, the hits for the Asheville Tourists have just kept on coming for the past couple of days. They had 16 more hits last night in a 9-4 win over Greensboro and a quartet of players- McMahon, Patterson, Rodriguez, and Briceno- all drove in two runs a piece. Asheville starter Alex Blalog went 7 innings, giving up 3 runs to improve his record to 5-3. Jeffri Hernandez and Dylan Stamey pitched an inning a piece, with Stamey giving up the other Greensboro run. The improves Asheville to 7-1 since the second half of the season started.

Thirteen Never Has Been That Lucky

The Asheville Tourists were down 14-0 before their bats ever woke up in last nights 14-6 loss to the Greenville Drive. The Drive pounded out 20 hits and scored the 14 runs without the benefit of a homerun although they did hit five doubles. Greenville pretty much hit anything and everyone the Tourists threw at them. Starter Starter Johendi Jiminian, one of Asheville most consistent starters this season, never could get untracked and gave up 8 runs in 2 2/3 innings and his record fell to 8-4. Andrew Brown followed and was touched up for 4 runs in 2 2/3 innings and it was 14-0 by the time the seventh inning stretch rolled around. Correlle Prime led off the bottom of the seventh inning with his 13th homerun and Jose Briceno hit a three run homer, his 2nd, and Max White followed that up a couple of batters later with a two run shot, his 4th, to finish out the scoring.

Off To A Great Start

The Asheville Tourists improved to 2-0 in the second half last night with a 4-3 win over the Augusta Greenjackets. The Tourists only managed 6 hits in the game and Third Baseman Ryan McMahon was the hitting star going 2 for 4 with two doubles and a Run Batted In. Four Asheville Tourists pitchers combined to scatter nine hits. Antonio Senzatela got the start and he went 4 1/3 innings and allowed two runs, Andrew Brown came in and pitched 2 2/3 innings in middle relief and gave up one unearned run and got credit for the win (3-0), and Matt Carasiti and Trent Daniel came on to pitch a scoreless inning a piece. Trent Daniel got his 6th save on the season. Tourists batters struggled a little bit at the plate, striking out thirteen times. Catcher Jose Brecino is quickly developing a reputation in the South Atlantic League for his willingness to throw to any base at any time to try to keep the opposing teams runners honest. He picked a Greenjackets runner off Third Base last night. Pitcher Andrew Brown also helped his own cause by picking a runner off second base.

A Good Show

Last night's baseball game between the Augusta Greenjackets and the Asheville Tourists was a really good game and featured some of baseball classic matchups. The Tourists were down 4-3 going into the bottom of the ninth inning and put two on base with two outs. The Tourists got the matchup they wanted. It was Greenjackets closer and power pitcher Tyler Mizenko versus Tourists slugger Francisco Sosa who had already hit his 20th homerun over the rightfield wall in the 6th inning. I don't think that Mizenk really wanted to give him anything good to hit so he nipped around the plate and ended up walking him on a 3-2 count. Sosa showed great patience and did not bite on the 3-2 pitch that was low and outside. That brought up clean up man David Bergin with the bases loaded and two out. He grounded a ball in between third and shortstop that Greenjackets Third Baseman Mitchell Delfino really had to stretch for the grounder and threw wide to First Baseman Joseph Rapp and pulled his foot off the bag. He still had the time and the where with all to reach back with his left foot and touch the bag a split second before David Bergin's foot landed on the bag. It was a close play but I had a very clear view of it from my spot in Section A, Row B, Seat 10 along the first base line and he was out by a half of a step. Tourists starter Andrew Brown absorbed his first loss of the year (7-1), giving up 4 runs in 7 innings, with the big blow being a three run homer by Right fielder Charles Jones in the fourth inning. Reliever Shane Broyles came on to pitch shutout baseball over the final two innings and got out of a bases loaded jam in the top of the 8th inning.

Shut Down Pitching

The Asheville Tourists got a solid start from Andrew Brown (5 innings, 1 earned run) and 4 innings of shutout relief- 2 from Shane Broyles and 1 inning a piece from Trent Blank and Jacob Newberry- in an 8 -1 win over the Charleston River Dogs. Brown won his 7th game without a loss. The Tourists were powered by 2 Derek Jones homeruns (his 17th and 18th) and 3 RBI's and a Ben Waldrip homerun (his 3rd) and 3 RBI's. The Tourists improved their overall record to 61-67 but just 23-37 in the second half.

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.

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.