Tourists Taste Defeat for the First Time in Two Weeks in 6-3 Final

Published on May 2, 2013 under South Atlantic League (SAL1)
Asheville Tourists News Release

Hickory, NC--Kelvin Vasquez worked out of several early-inning jams to help lead the Crawdads past the Tourists 6-3 on Thursday night. The Crawdads starting pitcher worked five innings en route to his second win of the year. In the process, the Tourists' ten-game winning streak came to an end.

In the bottom of the first, Joey Gallo connected on a 1-2 pitch from Eddie Butler and sent it over the left-centerfield wall. The Home Run was Gallo's ninth on the year and gave the Crawdads a 1-0 lead.

In the second, Nomar Mazara duplicated Gallo's feat with a Home Run of his own. The solo shot came with one out and put Hickory in front 2-0. Butler responded well though, striking out the next two hitters.

The Crawdads continued to build on their lead in the third. Hickory plated three unearned runs on two Tourists errors and a passed ball. When the inning was finally completed, the home team led 5-0.

Asheville finally broke through on the scoreboard with a run in the sixth. Tom Murphy led off the inning with a triple and Francisco Sosa followed with an RBI single. The Tourists added another in the seventh on a Rosell Herrera single to right that scored Matt Wessinger.

Crawdads centerfielder Lewis Brinson hit a solo Home Run to kick the lead back out to four and the Tourists eighth inning rally only netted one run.

Butler suffered his first loss of the season while Alexander Claudio earned his second save for the Crawdads. The same two teams will play the series rubber match on Friday night beginning at 7:00 pm.

South Atlantic League Stories from May 2, 2013

• Legends Get Past Delmarva in 10, 3-2 - Lexington Legends
• Jaye Matches Career-High 9 Strikeouts in Loss - Kannapolis Cannon Ballers
• Suns Nip GreenJackets 3-2 - Hagerstown Suns
• Shorebirds Fall 3-2 in Extra Innings to Legends - Delmarva Shorebirds
• Vasquez Bests Butler in 'Dads 6-3 Win - Hickory Crawdads
• RiverDogs Struggles Continue - Charleston RiverDogs
• Tourists Taste Defeat for the First Time in Two Weeks in 6-3 Final - Asheville Tourists
• Hanson Dazzles as BlueClaws Blank RiverDogs 6-0 - Jersey Shore BlueClaws
• Rough Start Costs Power - Charleston Dirty Birds
• Drive Drop Second Straight to Braves, 7-4 - Greenville Drive
• Game Notes: Kannapolis Intimidators at Savannah Sand Gnats (May 2, 2013) - Kannapolis Cannon Ballers
• Rainy Lara Named SAL Pitcher of the Week - Savannah Sand Gnats
• Winning Streak Goes to Eight - Rome Emperors
• Intimidators Promote Ravelo to Winston-Salem - Kannapolis Cannon Ballers
• WV Power Game Notes - Charleston Dirty Birds
• Senator Robert W. Singer, Lena Blackburne To Be Inducted Into South Atlantic League Hall of Fame - Jersey Shore BlueClaws

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