A Rain Delay

One hard fact about baseball is that you cannot play baseball in a monsoon. Therefore the Greenjackets and Tourists made it to the bottom of the second inning last night before the rains came and the Greenjackets holding a 2-1 lead. They had to suspend the game and continue it today as part of the season finale. It has rained this summer like it never has before. I do not know the meteorolgical stats behind it but, I was talking to a few fans after the game and one older gentleman told me that he had only been able to come to five games this year and everyone had ended up being a rainout. I remember when Catcher Rick Dempsey of the Baltimore Orioles was playing in the 1980's, he used to entertain the fans during rain delays by coming out and doing a pantomime homerun routine where he finished up by sliding headfirst into a big puddle of water to a standing ovation to those fans that were left. The only entertainment we got last night was the Augusta Greenjackets bullpen throwing a football around. Where are the characters in baseball these days?

Stolz's Career Day

Asheville Tourists Shortstop Jason Stolz drove in a season high five runs with a bases clearing double over the Centerfielder's head in the fourth inning and a 2 RBI triple in the eighth inning. He also scored the winning run on Second Baseman Zach Osborne's RBI single with the next batter. Third Baseman Matt Argyropoulos went 4 for 4 with 2 runs scored. Tourists Manager Fred Ocasio shiffted the defensive lineup around a little bit as he had Jason Stolz at Shortstop, Zach Osborne at Second, and Matt Argyropoulos at Third. Newcomer David Bergin, who also had two hits, operated out of the Designated Hitter spot in the lineup. Tourists starter Ben Hughes went 6 innings, gave up 5 runs, 4 earned, and two homeruns but did not factor in the decision. Reliever Alving Mejias pitched two scoreless innings to get the win (5-5). Closer Raul Fernandez pitched a scoreless ninth to get his team leading 16th save.

Ocasio Sounds Off

Asheville Tourists Manager Fred Ocasio sounded off on his teams woes in the second half of this season that has lead to the worst record in the South Atlantic League, 24-42 in the second half and 62-72 overall after last nights loss to Augusta. He cited the fact that the "offense has really struggled" in the second half due to "not getting two-out RBI's." This lack of production is in spite of the fact that the Tourists lead all of professional baseball in stolen bases with over 200 and have the league MVP, Rosell Herrera, in their lineup as well as leading the SAL in team batting average (.273). In the games I have been to, I have seen the Tourists aggressiveness on the base paths run themselves out of several potential big innings. David Bergin getting thrown out at second base in the bottom of the 8th inning in last night's game cost them the opportunity to tie it up as the next batter, Max White, hit a double off of the top of the rightfield wall that probably would have scored Bergin. I do not know if someone missed a sign or if it was a botched hit-and-run but it wasn't even a close play at second base. Ocasio was professional enough to not name any of the teams players but it has been a frustrating second half for both the Manager and the players.

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.

The Last Thirsty Thursday Of The Season

I made it to the first Thirsty Thursday of the season (although it was a rain out) and I made it to the final one last night. In last night's final edition, the Tourists were victorious over the Hickory Crawdads 7-4. I was very interested to see the Crawdads because of all of the power numbers they were putting up and in that respect, they did not disappoint. Tourists starter Matt Flemer held the big bats of the Crawdads without a hit for 4 1/3 innings until an error by Shortstop Zach Osborne put a man on first and Crawdads First Baseman Kevin Torres followed that with a homerun to right field that bounced off the top of the fence and over for the Crawdads first hit and a 2-0 lead. The Tourists came storming back in the bottom of the fifth with 5 runs of their own, led by a leadoff homerun by Third Baseman Jason Stolz, his third of the year. The Tourists scored two more in the bottom of the sixth for a 7-2 lead. Flemer went 6 2/3 innings, giving up 2 runs and 1 earned run, with 11 strikeouts. He kept the Crawdads off balance with a great curveball and a sneaky fastball. Reliever Alving Mejias came on in relief and gave up back-to-back homeruns to a couple of the Crawdads big bombers in the top of the eighth. Catcher Jorge Alfaro hit his 14th and Third Baseman Joey Gallo hit his league leading 31st on the season. Gallo's homerun had to be one of the longest I have ever seen hit at McCormick Field. It cleared the bank of lights behind the right field fence. Tourists closer Raul Fernandez came on to strike out 4 in the ninth inning to earn his 14th save on the season. Catcher Michael Ramirez allowed a third strike to get by him on the first batter of the top of the ninth and allowed Fernandez to accomplish this baseball rarity. Flemer got the win and improved to 3-4 on the season.

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.