Final from Tuesday night, at Asheville, N.C.:
Asheville Tourists 8, Greensboro Grasshoppers 4
(This is our Fred Anderson Toyota of Raleigh Game Report.)
WP:Anthony Cruz(1-5)/LP:Hung-Leng Chang(3-2)
Tourists' Line-8-7-1 Hoppers' Line- 4-9-3
Greensboro Grasshoppers fall to (33-19) with the Tuesday night loss, and the Asheville Tourists improve to (12-39), with the victory…
This was a 3-3 ballgame, after 6 1/2 Innings, and things that hurt the Hoppers, were the Grasshoppers Three(3) errors, and the fact that they gave up the Four(4) runs in the bottom of the eighth inning, to the team(Asheville Tourists) with the worst record in the South Atlantic League…Hoppers pitching Walked Ten(10) Asheville Tourists batters in this ballgame, and that’s way too many free passes there….Asheville took this one, and it is a tough road loss for the Greensboro Grasshoppers(33-19), as they now trail the Frederick Keys(32-17), by a Half-Game(1/2 Game) for First Place in the Northern Division of the South Atlantic League, and the First Half of the SALLY Season, is quickly coming closer to being DONE…
Here is how that Asheville scoring damage went in the Bottom of the Eighth Inning:
Bottom 8th
Nehomar Ochoa Jr. homers on a fly ball to center field.
GBO 3,ASH 5
Justin Thomas Jr. walks. John Garcia scores. Zach Daudet to 3rd. Kyle Walker to 2nd.
GBO 3,ASH 6
Ethan Frey singles on a ground ball to center fielder Brian Sanchez. Zach Daudet scores. Kyle Walker scores. Justin Thomas Jr. to 2nd.
GBO 3,ASH 8
Here is how the Hoppers’ hitting went on the night:Yordany De Los Santos 2-4/Double/BB/2 RBI/SB…Easton Carmichael 2-4/BB/Run/SB…Shalin Polanco 2-4/HR/2 Runs/RBI…Jared Jones 1-4/RBI…Jhonny Severino 1-3/Double/Run/SB…Murf Gray 1-4…Tony Blanco Jr. 0-3/BB…
Hoppers out-hit the Tourists, 9-7, but those 3 Hopper errors keep popping up…The Hoppers used 5 pitchers, and the Hopper pitchers Walked Ten(10) Tourist batters…Asheville only used 2 pitchers, and the Tourists only Walked Four(4) Hopper batters…Hung-Leng Chang took the loss for the Hoppers, and he worked an Inning and Two-Thirds, and he gave up 5 Runs, on 3 Hits, with 3 BBs/2 Ks, and Chang gave up 1 Asheville Tourists Home Run…Anthony Cruz grabbed the Win for Asheville, going 3 Innings, and giving up 3 Runs, on 6 Hits, with 2 BBs/1 K, and Cruz gave p the Hopper Homer to Shalin Polanco…
Game Details:
Attendance-2,824
Time of Game-3:01
Game Time Temp-6 Degrees and Partly Cloudy…
Up Next:Greensboro Grasshoppers(33-19) at the Asheville Tourists(12-39) on Wednesday night, at 6:35pm…
**********Game Report on the Hoppers-Tourists game from the Asheville Tourists’ website:*********
Luis Rodriguez Shines in 8-4 Asheville Win
ASHEVILLE, N.C. – Asheville was back at HomeTrust Park for the first time since May 17th on Monday night, and the Tourists made the homecoming count. Behind a dominant start from Luis Rodriguez and a late offensive explosion, Asheville knocked off the Greensboro Grasshoppers 8-4 to open the six-game series on the right foot.
Rodriguez was sharp from the jump. The right-hander went six innings, allowing just three hits and one unearned run while walking two and striking out four. It was exactly the kind of outing the Tourists needed after a tough road trip.
Asheville got on the board in the first. Ethan Frey reached second and broke for third, drawing a throw from Greensboro starter Connor Oliver that sailed wide. Frey never stopped running and scored to put the Tourists up 1-0.
Greensboro tied it in the fourth on a Jared Jones line drive single that scored Easton Carmichael. The Tourists answered immediately. Kyle Walker grounded out to second baseman Jhonny Severino who made an incredible off-balance throw to first baseman Tony Blanco Jr., but it was enough to drive in Zach Daudet from third and make it 2-1 Asheville.
Justin Thomas Jr. extended the lead in the fifth, lacing a double high off the wall in right to score Mason Lytle. 3-1 Asheville.
Anthony Cruz took over in the seventh and ran into immediate trouble. Yordany De Los Santos doubled to center to score both Jhonny Severino and Shalin Polanco, tying the game at three.
The Tourists answered right back. Frey lifted a deep sacrifice fly to right to score Lytle and put Asheville back on top 4-3.
Then Nehomar Ochoa Jr. took over the night. The newcomer had arrived in Asheville just the day before, taking an uber ride of over two hours from Single-A Fayetteville to join the club. He started his Tourist debut 0-for-3 with two strikeouts before stepping in against Greensboro’s Hung-Leng Chang with a 3-0 count and the green light to swing. Ochoa didn’t miss, drilling a home run off the video board in left-center for his first hit as a Tourist. The crowd at HomeTrust Park had its moment.
That opened the floodgates. The Tourists loaded the bases and Thomas Jr. drew a walk to score John Garcia. Then Frey singled to bring home two more. Asheville had erupted for five runs in the inning and led 8-3. Chang was charged with all five, finishing with a line of 1.2 innings and five earned runs.
Polanco hit a solo shot for Greensboro in the ninth to make it 8-4, but Cruz closed it out from there to earn the win.
Frey was the offensive engine again, going 1-for-4 with a sacrifice fly and three RBIs. The Astros’ third-ranked prospect has been Asheville’s most consistent bat since arriving.
The Tourists improve to 12-39. Greensboro falls to 33-19. The two teams meet again Tuesday night at HomeTrust Park. First pitch is set for 6:35 p.m. in a game that will be featured as the MiLB.com game of the day.