Santos with Strong Debut in Opening Day Defeat
April 5, 2018 - South Atlantic League (SAL1)
Asheville Tourists News Release
SALISBURY- The Asheville Tourists dropped their 2018 season opener 2-0 to the Delmarva Shorebirds on Thursday evening. Despite the shutout loss, the Tourists received a handful of quality performances led by starting pitcher Antonio Santos.
The right-hander tossed six innings and limited the Shorebirds to only one earned run. Asheville's bullpen attack of Ben Bowden and Mike Bunal combined for two shutout innings and registered four strikeouts.
Offensively, the Tourists bats were silenced by Delmarva's starting pitcher Michael Baumann. The right-hander for the Shorebirds struck out ten Tourist hitters in five innings of work. Scott Burke and Reed Hayes pitched the final four innings to close out the shutout.
Asheville did put together a strong scoring opportunity in the top of the second. Chad Spanberger led off the frame with a double and later took third on Ramon Marcelino's infield single. After Baumann issued a walk to Bret Boswell, the Tourists had the bases loaded with only one out. Unfortunately, back-to-back strikeouts ended the threat.
Delmarva plated their first run on a two-out RBI single by Ryan Ripken in the bottom of the second. The Shorebirds added their second run on a wild pitch in the bottom of the sixth. Ripkin finished 3-for-3 and had the game's lone RBI.
Spanberger and Marcelino each finished 2-for-4. Casey Golden and Shael Mendoza each added a base hit to the Tourists attack. However, 14 of the 27 outs recorded by the Shorebirds' pitching staff were via strikeout.
The same two teams are back at it on Friday night in game two of their four-game series slated to begin at 7:05pm. LHP Breiling Eusebio will receive the start for Asheville.
South Atlantic League Stories from April 5, 2018
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