SAL1 Asheville Tourists

Tourists School Braves On Education Day

Published on May 12, 2009 under South Atlantic League (SAL1)
Asheville Tourists News Release


(Asheville, NC) - The Tourists took the field Tuesday morning for their final day game of 2009, outlasting the Rome Braves by the score of 5-3. Asheville got another strong start from lefthander Christian Friedrich (3-1) who was ejected to begin the sixth inning, forcing him to leave prematurely. Rome starter Jacob Thompson pitched well to match Friedrich through five innings, but tired in the sixth. The Tourists offense was fueled by back-to-back homeruns from Jimmy Cesario and David Christensen, the first time Asheville has gotten back-to-back homers this season.

Each starter worked through the first three innings without incident before Rome got on the board in the top of the fourth. After striking out the first batter of the inning, Friedrich lost struggled with his command and walked Luis Sumoza. Friedrich got down in the count 3-0 to the power hitting first baseman Gerry Rodriguez, worked the count full, then gave up a two-run homerun to right field. It was the second homerun in as many games for Rodriguez, who hit a grand slam in last night's Rome win. Rodriguez hit it a mile, and took his time rounding the bases while he watched it go.

The Tourists responded quickly with a run in the bottom of the inning. Jordan Pacheco hit a leadoff single to extend his season-long hitting streak to twelve games. After a strikeout, Jimmy Cesario hit a ground ball to short, but the Braves could not turn the double play, leaving Cesario on first with two outs. With Cesario running on the pitch, David Christensen stepped in and drilled a double off the wall in left, scoring Cesario easily from first to make it 2-1 Braves.

Asheville tied it up in their next turn at bat when Beau Seabury led off the bottom of the fifth with a double to the left-center field gap. With Patrick Rose batting, Seabury advanced to third on a wild pitch. Rose hit a hard ground ball to first base that evaded Rodriguez. It was ruled an error, allowing Seabury to score and tie the game at 2-2 before Thompson worked out of the jam.

The score remained tied at 2-2 into the top of the sixth inning. Luis Sumoza led off with a double to left-center field, bringing up Rodriguez, who homered in his last at bat. Friedrich's first pitch to Rodriguez flew way inside, a few feet over Rodriguez's head, prompting home plate umpire Mathieu Moisans to eject the pitcher. Friedrich and Tourists manager Joe Mikulik expressed their displeasure with the call, but it stood, and Friedrich left after 5.0 innings of work. Michael Marbry came on to relieve Friedrich with an inherited runner on third base and no outs, and worked his way out of it, striking out the first two batters he faced before allowing a walk and getting a pop-out to end the inning.

Asheville's offense came alive in the bottom of the sixth before being stifled by a confusing call on the field. Kiel Roling led things off with a base hit into right field. Jimmy Cesario crushed a two-run homerun over the scoreboard in right field, his second long ball of the year, to give the Tourists a 4-2 lead. David Christensen followed with a blast of his own, a solo shot to straightaway left field, making the score 5-2 Asheville. Christensen's fourth homer of the year marked the first time this season the Tourists have gotten back-to-back homeruns. With the bases empty, Tyler Massey drove a double into right field and Beau Seabury followed with a single, his second hit of the day, moving Massey to third. Patrick Rose hit a ground ball to third base that was fielded by Stephen Shults, who tried to tag Massey out diving back to third base. The tag was late, and all the runners were safe, loading the bases with no outs. After Scott Robinson popped out to the catcher, Thomas Field drove a fly ball into medium center field. Chris Shehan settled under the ball and looked to catch it, but then reached down and dropped the ball to the ground. Beau Seabury had been reading the play and stood halfway between second and third, ready to retreat on a catch or advance on a drop. When he saw Shehan reach down, he took off for third base. Shehan picked up the ball and threw it back to the infield, where shortstop Ryan Barba tagged second base and the umpires ruled it an inning-ending double play. The ruling was that Shehan had caught the ball initially and dropped it when transferring to his throwing hand, resulting in the awkward double play.

The Braves got a run back in the top of the seventh on an RBI single by center fielder Chris Shehan before Marbry retired the side. Kurt Yacko came on from the bullpen to work the top of the eighth inning, and struck out the first two batters he faced before allowing back-to-back singles to Samuel Sime and Braeden Schlehuber. Yacko induced a ground ball off the bat of Chais Fuller to retire the sand and strand the runners, maintaining the two-run Tourists lead.

Adam Jorgenson came on to work the top of the ninth, looking for his fifth save in six chances this year. Jorgenson allowed two singles and faced Luis Sumoza with one out and runners on first and second. Jorgenson got Sumoza to ground to third base, where Patrick Rose fielded, stepped on the bag, and threw across the diamond for the final out.

The Tourists (14-17) will face the Braves (16-16) again Wednesday night, for game three of this four game series, having split the first two contests. Asheville will send RHP Dan Houston (0-1 3.43) to the mound to go up against Rome LHP Brett DeVall (1-1, 2.08). Tickets for Wednesday's game and all Tourists home games are available by contacting the Tourists box office at (828) 258-0428. You can also listen to all 140 Asheville Tourists games live on 100.7 WRES FM or streaming online at www.theashevilletourists.com.

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South Atlantic League Stories from May 12, 2009


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