Lead Slips Away in 9-8 Loss to the 'Birds
June 17, 2021 - South Atlantic League (SAL)
Asheville Tourists News Release
ASHEVILLE - The Asheville Tourists have put together ten come-from-behind wins already this season. Thursday night, the shoe was on the other foot. The Aberdeen IronBirds erased a six-run deficit and defeated Asheville 9-8 to snap their seven-game losing skid. The loss snapped a three-game win streak for Asheville.
Aberdeen jumped out to a 2-0 lead with a run in the second and third innings. Asheville's bats came to life in the bottom of the third. Alex McKenna hit a one-out single to centerfield and Matt Barefoot tied the score with one swing of the bat. Barefoot's Home Run cleared the left field wall and it was only the beginning.
After a Joe Perez single and an Aberdeen error, Enmanuel Valdez cranked a three-run Home Run to right. McKenna led off the fourth with a solo Home Run. Later in the fourth, Scott Schreiber doubled to bring Valdez to the plate and the Tourists second-baseman clubbed a two-run shot over the centerfield wall. Asheville led 8-2 after four.
The IronBirds began to creep their way back into the game by plating two runs in the fifth. In the bottom of the seventh, Aberdeen had two runners on with two outs and Maverick Handley at the plate. Handley hit a two-strike pitch over the right field wall that shrank Asheville's lead to one at 8-7.
In the eighth, the IronBirds took the lead on a two-run triple by Shayne Fontana. The Tourists offense did not threaten down the stretch. The six-run cushion is the largest lead Asheville has let disappear this season; however, the Tourists still hold a two games to one advantage in the series.
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