SAL1 Charleston RiverDogs

Tanos and Tourists Defeat R'Dogs in Dramatic Series Finale

Published on August 4, 2011 under South Atlantic League (SAL1)
Charleston RiverDogs News Release


ASHEVILLE, N.C. - Brett Tanos stroked a 10th inning RBI single to send the Asheville Tourists to a 5-4 win over the Charleston RiverDogs in South Atlantic League action Thursday night in front of a crowd of 3,103 fans at McCormick Field.

Asheville took the series and improved to 22-18 this half and 53-56 overall with the victory, while Charleston regressed to 16-24 and 42-68.

Charleston's Shane Greene and Asheville's Joshua Slaats hooked up in a pitcher's duel, exchanging zeroes until the Tourists grabbed a 1-0 lead in the bottom of the third.

All the damage came with two outs, as Tanos walked, was pushed to second base when Helder Velazquez was plunked by a Greene offering, and came home to score on Kyle Parker's RBI single through the originator.

Charleston wasted no time in squaring the tally, as Taylor Grote tattooed his first home run of the season over the right field fence to make it a 1-1 game.

The RiverDogs proceeded to surge in front in the fifth, as the bottom of the order provided the spark. Garrison Lassiter laced a leadoff double to right field, and Jeff Farnham followed with a single to put men on the corners with nobody out. Slaats induced a double play ball from Jose Toussen, but it was enough to score Lassiter and give Charleston a 2-1 advantage.

Greene was unable to push through five innings and qualify for a victory, but was still solid for the third consecutive start. The Daytona State College product logged 4.1 innings, allowing the one run on three hits and five walks, while fanning six.

Francisco Rondon came out of the RiverDogs bullpen to escape the fifth unscathed, but couldn't keep the Tourists bats down in the sixth as they tied the contest at 2 apiece.

Chandler Laurent walked and found his way all the way to third base courtesy of a wild pitch and a groundout, before touching the plate on a RBI single by Ortega.

Slaats was on top of his game for most of the night, picking up a no-decision while penning 7.0 frames. The southpaw yielded only the two runs on four hits and three walks, managing to notch six punch outs in the process.

Kelvin Perez navigated his way through the seventh to keep the game tied, but the Tourists torched the RiverDogs with the long ball once again to take a 4-2 lead in the eighth.

Mark Tracy singled in front of Ortega, who clubbed his eighth jack of the campaign clear of the right field wall for the two-run Asheville cushion.

For the second time of the set, Tourists' closer Juan Perez could not shut the door on the RiverDogs bats.

Shane Brown singled to begin the rally, and crossed to third on a double by Jose Mojica. Perez recovered to strike out two in a row, but Toussen delivered the clutch-base knock to tie the see-saw battle at 4-4 by stroking a two-run single to the opposite field.

Mark Montgomery struck out the side in the bottom of the ninth to force extra innings, and Isaiah Froneberger (1-0) authored a shutout top of the tenth to give the Tourists another shot at the RiverDogs' overpowering closer.

Montgomery retired the first two hitters of the frame, but was lifted for Yobanny Reyes (0-3). That was the opening Asheville needed, as Ortega doubled and plated the decisive run on Tanos' RBI single to left field, clinching the series win for the Tourists.

Charleston returns to Joseph P. Riley Jr. Park to start a four-game series with the Savannah Sand Gnats on Friday at 7:05 p.m. Right-hander Jose A. Ramirez (5-5, 4.24 ERA) has been tabbed to start the series opener for the Yankees' affiliate, versus right-hander Gonzalez Germen (7-5, 3.70 ERA) of the Mets' farm club.

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South Atlantic League Stories from August 4, 2011


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