Two out Hits Cost Tourists in Rome
May 5, 2018 - South Atlantic League (SAL1)
Asheville Tourists News Release
ROME - The Asheville Tourists were beaten by the Rome Braves in one major facet of Saturday's game, two-out hitting. Asheville fell 6-3 to the Braves in large part due to the inability to record an inning's third out. Rome scored two-out runs in four consecutive innings to account for all of their scoring.
Asheville jumped out to a 1-0 lead in the top of the first. Shael Mendoza extended his league-leading hit streak to 13 games with a lead-off double. Two batters later Bret Boswell plated him with an RBI single.
In the fourth, Ryan Vilade scored Chad Spanberger with an RBI single back up the middle to give Asheville a 2-0 advantage. The bottom of the fourth inning is when Rome turned it on. The Braves, with the help of a botched Tourists rundown and an error, scored their first run on a two-out RBI single by Jean Carlos Encarnacion.
In the fifth, Rome smacked back-to-back two out hits off Antonio Santos to tie the score 2-2. After Santos hit the next batter, Drew Lugbauer put the Braves in front with an RBI single to right.
Asheville countered in the top of the sixth. Once again it was Vilade coming through. The shortstop laced another RBI single into centerfield to tie the game 3-3. In the bottom of the sixth, Derian Cruz blasted an RBI triple with two outs to make it 4-3 Rome. The Braves would add another two-run single with two outs in the seventh.
Despite some impressive defensive plays from the Tourists, the offense once again had trouble making contact. Asheville struck out 12 times compared to working only one walk. Asheville has struck out 45 times over their last four games.
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