Tourists hold on for victory
Published on August 24, 2006 under South Atlantic League (SAL1)
Asheville Tourists News Release
Following three days of rain and travelling, the Tourists grabbed their third win in a row, holding off the Greenville Drive for a 5-4 victory.
The Tourists came out looking fresh and hungry, none the worse for their rain restricted schedule in recent days. They began with a run in each of the two innings. In the first inning Eric Young Jr's single and subsequent obligatory stolen base (SB # 81 of the season) was rewarded by Cole Garner, who brought the infielder home with a line drive RBI single into left field to give the Tourists a 1-0 lead after one inning.
Aggressive base running again proved dividends in the second inning. Dexter Fowler's two-out single started things off, and his long legs carried him to second while Eric Young Jr stood at home plate. Young took a walk to first base, and as Chris Nelson stood over the plate during the next at bat, Fowler and Young Jr performed a double steal. This turned into a run, as visiting catcher catcher Mike Leonard threw the ball away trying to catch Fowler at third, allowing him to stride into home to make the score 2-0.
The Drive came back in the top of the third with a run of their own off of two hits to make the score 2-1, but back came the Tourists again in the same inning, Daniel Carte hammering his thirteenth home run of the season over the left field wall, bringing home Cole Garner (who had doubled to lead off the inning) with him to score two runs to give the Tourists a 4-1 lead.
That's how it stayed through the fourth and the fifth inning, with both starting pitchers allowing no hits in either inning. Alan Johnson would leave the mound for the Tourists at the end of the fifth in a position to take the win, allowing one run off of five hits, striking out three and walking one for an ERA of 4.08.
Johnson would not take the win though. The Drive jumped on Zach Simons in relief, hitting three doubles for the cost of two outs in the top of the sixth before Simons left the mound with runners on the corners. The inning would eventually cost the Tourists three runs, Pedro Strop taking care of the last out, but not before picking up a throwing error on a pick-off attempt that led to the tying run coming home.
This meant that Strop would be credited with his first blown save of the season, but he would also take the win, as the Tourists took the lead back for good in the seventh. Fowler and Young were again the combination, Fowler leading off with a single, stealing second base, and coming home as Young hit a grass cutting single down the middle to give the Tourists a 5-4 lead, which they never looked in danger of losing again.
South Atlantic League Stories from August 24, 2006
- Hoppers hold off West Virginia 6-5 - Greensboro Grasshoppers
- Drive can't stop skid, fall to Tourists 5-4 - Greenville Drive
- Augusta buries Kannapolis - Kannapolis Cannon Ballers
- Tourists hold on for victory - Asheville Tourists
- Four run sixth not enough in Power loss - Charleston Dirty Birds
- BlueClaws down Captains - Lake County Captains
- Gnats and Braves rained out, doubleheader Friday - Savannah Sand Gnats
- Columbus, Charleston postponed Due To Unplayable Field Conditions - Columbus Catfish
- Catfish Honor Soldiers with Military Appreciation Night - Columbus Catfish
- Sand Gnats to hold drive benefitting Locks of Love - Savannah Sand Gnats
- BlueClaws close to clinching - Jersey Shore BlueClaws
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