ASHEVILLE, N.C. (828newsNOW) — Finishing a rare two-game series against the Rome Emperors on Sunday at McCormick Field, the Asheville Tourists dropped a close 4-3 decision.
Plating men early, the Emperors (38-39) tagged starter Jean Pinto (L, 1-1) for all runs on nine hits through the first three frames.
The Tourists (39-49) led 2-1 after the second inning with RBI hits from Lucas Spence and Chase Jaworsky, but the bats only nabbed three knocks on the day. Spence tallied the last one with an RBI double in the fifth.
Asheville has Monday off, then the club is back in action on Tuesday, continuing the eight-game home series against Bowling Green next week. First pitch of the series is set for 6:35 p.m.
Saturday’s game between the Asheville Tourists and Rome Emperors was postponed because of the weather and will be made up at a later date. Tickets are exchangeable for any future game in 2025.
Tourists trounce Emperors on Friday
Emphatically returning from the All-Star break, the Asheville Tourists demolished the Rome Emperors for their largest margin of victory this season in a 14-2 finish Friday night at McCormick Field.
Getting out to an early lead, the Tourists (39-48) blasted two two-run shots from Walker Janek and Tyler Whitaker in the first pair of frames.
Leading 6-1 in the seventh, Will Bush clobbered a missile over the right-center video board to extend the lead.
Leaving an exclamation point on the offense, Asheville scored seven more in the eighth inning off the Emperors (37-49), highlighted by a second Janek homer and a two-RBI double from Whitaker.
Janek, Whitaker, Bush, Chase Jaworsky, Luis Encarnacion and Kenni Gomez each registered multiple hits to their cards — Gomez led everyone with a four-for-five game.
Asheville’s runs came off a season-high 17 knocks.
The pitching was just as lethal. In a surprise start, due to an hour and 13 minute pregame delay which knocked the original starter out of the lineup, David Ramsey went four scoreless frames, allowing just two baserunners with four whiffs.
From the pen, Cody Tucker (W, 2-2) tossed the next two innings, allowing one run. Finally, Railin Perez (Sv, 3) picked up a three-inning save, giving up one run before facing the minimum and striking out the side in the ninth.