SAL1 Asheville Tourists

De Fratus Dominates Asheville

July 22, 2009 - South Atlantic League (SAL1)
Asheville Tourists News Release


(Asheville, NC) - The Tourists took on the Lakewood BlueClaws in the first of a four-game series Wednesday night, and Lakewood starter Justin De Fratus baffled the Asheville lineup as the BlueClaws cruised to a 6-2 victory. De Fratus pitched a career-high 7.2 innings, allowing two runs (one earned) on five hits while striking out seven.

Ethan Hollingsworth made his second start since returning to the Tourists from Modesto, and pitched well but wasn't at his best. He retired six of the first seven batters he faced before getting into trouble in the top of the third inning. After getting a groundout to being the frame, Hollingsworth allowed four consecutive hits, including an RBI double for Harold Garcia, an RBI single for Anthony Gose, and a two-run homerun to catcher Travis D'Arnaud. It was his tenth homerun of the year, and it gave his club a 4-0 lead.

The BlueClaws tacked on another run in the top of the fourth, with three consecutive hits to lead off the inning. Vladimir De Los Santos brought the run in with a base hit and Lakewood took a 5-0 advantage. They would add another run in the top of the sixth when a Carlos Martinez throwing error allowed an unearned run to come across, making it 6-0.

That was more than enough than De Fratus would need, as the right-hander scattered three Asheville hits through the first six innings, including stranding Tyler Massey at third base following a leadoff triple in the sixth. The Tourists would finally scrape together some offense in the bottom of the eighth when David Christensen and Massey would pick up back-to-back one-out singles. Carlos Martinez was hit by pitch to load the bases for Delta Cleary, who drove in Christensen with a fielder's choice groundout. Scott Robinson would reach on an error by third baseman Travis Mattair, allowing Massey to score and make it a 6-2 game. Jordan Pacheco singled to load the bases with two outs for Kiel Roling, but the big first baseman struck out swinging to end the threat.

The Tourists went down in order in the bottom of the ninth, as left-handed reliever Jacob Diekman struck out two to end the ball game.

The Tourists (16-9) will face the BlueClaws (14-12) again for game two of four Thursday night at 7:05. Asheville RHP Jonnathan Aristil (1-5, 4.82) will take the mound for the Tourists against Lakewood RHP Freddy Ballestas (0-1, 3.93). Tickets for Thursday's game and all Tourists home games are available by contacting the Tourists box office at (828) 258-0428. You can also listen to all 140 Asheville Tourists games live on 100.7 WRES FM or streaming online at www.theashevilletourists.com.

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South Atlantic League Stories from July 22, 2009


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