SAL1 Asheville Tourists

Tourists hang on to win third straight

Published on July 3, 2008 under South Atlantic League (SAL1)
Asheville Tourists News Release


ASHEVILLE - It may have been a little too close for comfort in the ninth for most of the season-high 4,126 fans in attendance at McCormick Field, but Randall Taylor was in his element and in control for the Tourists, picking up his 24th save of the season in a 4-3 Tourists win Thursday night over the Rome Braves.

With one out, the Braves put three singles together to load the bases for Benji Johnson, who smashed a sacrifice fly to deep right field to bring in the second run of the night for Rome. David Berres, a late addition to the lineup, kept Rome's hopes alive with a two-out RBI single to drop Asheville's lead to one. But Taylor struck out Carlos Lee - the ninth hitter in the Braves order - to end the ballgame and bring the Tourists back to the .500 mark with their third win in a row.

Asheville got on the board early on a Darin Holcomb home run in the first inning to take a 2-0 lead. Holcomb has now reached base in 30 straight games - the largest streak of its kind this season in the South Atlantic League. Brian Rike added another with a sacrifice fly in the third.

Cody Johnson - who drilled a tape-measure home run to center the last time Rome came to town - opened things in the fourth off winning pitcher Connor Graham (6-4) with a solo home run to left field to put the Braves on the board. However, Rome could muster nothing further against Graham, who tossed seven innings on three hits with four walks and five strikeouts, with his only blemish coming on the Johnson home run.

The Tourists picked up another run in the fifth when Rike's double play ball brought Kevin Clark in to score for the only run in an inning where Asheville loaded the bases with nobody out. It was the only time reliever Yeliar Castro was on the ropes all night, quieting the bats of the Tourists with 4.1 innings of two-hit baseball.

Starting pitcher Cole Rohrbaugh (1-3) took the loss, allowing three runs on five hits in 2.2 innings of work. He walked three and struck out three on a night where he was not expected to go particularly deep into the start because of a strict pitch count.

Cory Riordan (6-7, 3.11) takes the hill for the Tourists on Independence Day against Edgar Osuna (3-4, 3.39) for Rome. The game is mostly sold out; the only tickets left are for the $27 BBQ Picnic in the Pepsi Party Pavillion. First pitch is at 7:05 p.m. and the game can be heard on the Tourists flagship station WRES-FM, 100.7. If you can't find a ticket on the 4th, seats remain on Saturday night for an identical fireworks extravaganza. Start time on Saturday night is 7:05 p.m. also.

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South Atlantic League Stories from July 3, 2008


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