A Second Half Team

The Asheville Tourists have played phenomenal baseball in the second half of the season. As of this post, they have posted a .703 winning percentage (45-19) and have easily outdistanced second place Savannah building a seven game lead with only three games to go. The Tourists have their fair share of offensive stars. Ryan McMahon has been consistently hitting .280 on the season with 17 homeruns and 100 RBI's, Correlle Prime (a great last name for any athlete) has 21 homeruns and 99 RBI's (I wonder if the Tourists have ever had two players that have had 100 RBI's in a season?), and Raimel Tapia has batted .329 with 9 homeruns, 72 RBI's and leads the team with 33 stolen bases. The Tourists pitchers haven't blown batters away with fastballs but have pitched fairly consistently all season long. Johendi Jiminian is 13-5 with a 4.15 ERA and Antonio Senzatela is 14-2 with a 3.20 ERA. The bullpen has pretty much been bullpen by committee with Trent Daniel leading the team in saves with 14 and Dylan Stamey has 11. The Tourists look ready to make another championship r un.

McMahon On An RBI Tear

Third Baseman Ryan McMahon drove in 5 of Asheville's 7 runs last night including a walk off, bases loaded single up the middle to propel the Tourists to a 7-6 win over Lexington last night. The Tourists jumped out to a quick 6-2 lead before Lexington scored 4 runs off of reliever Jeffri Hernandez to tie the game at 6. McMahon has driven in 65 runs in 76 games played and he displayed the same ability to drive in runs at a high rate at Grand Junction in the Pioneer League last season. He has had an impressive season but I may be more impressed with Ryan McMahon the person. I saw him signing autographs for some young fans along with a couple of other players before a game a couple of weeks ago and I was happy to see that type of interaction. The majority of the other players were passing these same fans by without even a nod. The players are the best form of Public Relations a minor league team can have. My friend and I were talking about how only 2 or 3 players on Asheville's roster this year will even make it to AAA much less the majors. These players had better enjoy the attention and adulation of small town America while they can because the majority of these guys will be completely out of baseball in 2 or 3 years and they will not even be a footnote in a statistical guide.

On The Road Again

The Asheville Tourists spotted Greenville a 2-0 lead last night before scoring all five of their runs in the top of the sixth inning to win 5-2. Asheville loaded the bases in the top of the sixth on a Zach Osborne single, a David Dahl walk, and two errors by Drive Shortstop Tzu-Wei Lin. Raimel Tapia followed with a bases clearing double and Ryan McMahon drove him home with his 12th homerun. The Tourists only had 5 hits in the game but made them count. Starting Pitcher Alex Blalog went 5 1/3 innings, gave up 10 hits but only two runs. He improved his record to 6-3. Reliever Trent Daniel came on next and he pitched 2 2/3 scoreless inning and Matt Carasiti pitched a scoreless 9th inning for his 2nd Save on the season.

Two In A Row

The Asheville Tourists lost their second game in a row to Greensboro, this time 4-0. It was scoreless heading into the 9th inning when Jeffri Hernandez entered the game to pitch for the Tourists. Two soft singles by Greensboro and a fielding error by Hernandez on a bunt attempt quickly loaded the bases. A second error in the inning, this time by Catcher Jose Briceno, allowed two runners to score and put me on first and third. A stolen base and a two RBI single later and it was 4-0 Greensboro. Asheville only managed six hits in the games, two of those by Wilfredo Rodriguez including a double. That broke a string of four consecutive games of getting double figures in hits by the Tourists. Asheville starter Zach Jemiola pitched a great game (8 innings, 0 runs, 5 hits, a walk and a strikeout) but did not factor in the decision. The Tourists are now 8-3 in the Second half of the season.

A Score Worthy Of A Video Game

Asheville had a great offensive performance last night against Greensboro pounding out 17 hits, 9 for extra bases, and scoring 12 runs but unfortunately, Greensboro had a better offensive game. Greensboro had 19 hits, 8 of those for extra bases and scored 15 runs as what could probably best be described as a Wrigley Field kind of game right here in Asheville. The Tourists battled back from a 6-2 deficit early on and a 10-5 deficit in the later innings to tie the score at 11 heading into the 9th inning. Asheville, however, ran out of gas as Greensboro scored 4 runs in the top of the 9th and Asheville could only plate 1 in the bottom of the ninth as they finally ran out of comebacks. David Dahl and Max White both had 4 hits (3 of Dahl's hits were doubles) and White drove in two runs while Jordan Patterson and Correlle Prime both had a homerun and 3 RBI's nut it still wasn't quite enough. Asheville starter Johendi Jiminian only lasted 3 innings and gave up 6 runs, 5 earned, before giving away to a bullpen that didn't fare much better. Trent Daniel took the loss (1-2) giving up Greensboro's final 5 runs in 1 2/3 innings.

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.