Final Score from Wednesday night at Asheville:
Asheville Tourists 16, Greensboro Grasshoppers 15
(This is our Fred Anderson Toyota of Raleigh Game Report.)
WP:Eurys Martich(2-1)/LP:Victor Cabreja(0-4)
Tourists' Line-16-16-4 Hoppers' Line- 15-12-1
Greensboro Grasshoppers fall to (33-20), and the Asheville Tourists improve to (13-39)…The Hoppers are now sitting a Game and a-Half back of the Frederick Keys(33-17) in the South Atlantic League’s Northern Division…
Hoppers fall hard on Wednesday night in Asheville, and the score was close, but this was a tough loss, for a Hoppers team that is in First Half Playoff Race…
The Bottom of the Seventh Inning just killed the Greensboro Grasshoppers…The Hoppers led the Asehville Tourists, 12-4, going to the Bottom of the 7th…Then, by the time the Inning was over, the Tourists led the Hoppers, 14-12…
You take away the Bottom of the 7th, and the Hoppers win the game, 15-6…..
Here is how it went for Asheville, in the Bottom of the Seventh Inning:
Caden Powell doubles on a line drive to center fielder Edward Florentino. Justin Thomas Jr. scores. Ethan Frey to 3rd.
GBO 12,ASH 5
Wild pitch by pitcher Inmer Lobo. Ethan Frey scores. Caden Powell to 3rd.
GBO 12,ASH 6
Nehomar Ochoa Jr. homers on a fly ball to right center field. Caden Powell scores.
GBO 12,ASH 8
Zach Daudet singles on a fly ball to right fielder Jared Jones. Alejandro Nunez scores. John Garcia scores. Keduar Trujillo to 3rd.
GBO 12,ASH 10
Justin Thomas Jr. singles on a sharp line drive to center fielder Edward Florentino. Keduar Trujillo scores. Zach Daudet to 3rd.
GBO 12,ASH 11
Chase Call homers on a fly ball to right center field. Zach Daudet scores. Justin Thomas Jr. scores.
GBO 12,ASH 14
That had to be a tough one to take right there…On the night the Hoppers Hitters go:Wyatt Sanford 0-3/3 BBs/2 Runs/3 SB…Yordany De Los Santos was 2-5/BB/2 Runs/3 RBI/4 SB…Easton Carmichael went 2-5/Run/2 RBI/SB…Murf Gray 1-4…Carlos Caro 1-1…Jared Jones 2-6/HR/2 Runs/2 RBI…Edward Florentino 0-3/2 BBs/Run…Tony Blanco Jr. 2-4/HR/BB/2 Runs/3 RBI…Jhonny Severino 1-4/BB/3 Runs…Brian Sanchez 1-2/3 BBs/2 Runs…On the night, the Greensboro Grasshopperes drew 12 Walks…The Hoppers received help with Two Balks from the Tourists’ pitching staff, and it was a BIG night on the bases for the Grasshoppers, as Greensboro stole 8 Bases, versus the Tourists…The Asheville Tourists also committed four errors, and that hepled the Hoppers too, but not enough to get them a “W”…..
This game for sure, had some crazy numbers, but the biggest setback for the Hoppers was that “L” in the Won/Lost column…The Asheville Tourists had Five Home Runs in the game, and the Hoppers finished with Two Long Gones…Justin Thomas had the biggest bat for the Tourists on the night, as he went 4-5/2 HRs/Double/BB/4 Runs/5 RBI…Thomas’ Walkoff Home Run, in the Bottom of the Ninth Inning, wins the game for the Asheville Tourists…
Key Game Details:
Attendance-3,378
Time of Game-3:40
Game Time Temp-75 Degrees and Partly Cloudy
Next Up:Greensboro Grasshoppers(33-20) at the Asheville Tourists(13-39) on Thursday night at 6:35pm…
Game Report on the Hoppers-Tourists game from the Asheville website:
Thomas’ Walkoff Homer Caps Miraculous 16-15 Comeback at HomeTrust Park
ASHEVILLE, N.C. — Justin Thomas Jr. had been special all game. The very first pitch he saw, he took Seth Hernandez, the number three prospect in baseball, deep. And in the bottom of the ninth in a tie game, the pressure is always intensified. Thomas stepped to the plate in a 15-15 ballgame, one that the Tourists had to score 11 straight runs just to have a chance. Victor Cabreja was called upon to clean up a mess left by Inmer Lobo and Kyle Larsen. Fans behind the plate waved their shirts above their heads as they had all game. Cabreja fired home, and Thomas unloaded. 16-15, Tourists win.
In one of the most unbelievable games in HomeTrust Park history, Thomas’ walkoff home run was just one chapter in what became an unforgettable Tuesday night in Asheville.
Seth Hernandez arrived with a reputation. The 19-year-old right-hander is the number one pitching prospect in baseball, the top prospect in the Pittsburgh Pirates organization, and the third-ranked prospect overall in the sport. Minor League Baseball made this the game of the night before first pitch, and it was easy to see why. Hernandez was sitting in the high 90s and touching triple digits with his fastball. The only Tourist who truly got to him was Thomas, who jumped on the very first pitch of the game and drove it off the scoreboard for a 1-0 Asheville lead.
Yeriel Santos looked comfortable through the first two innings, striking out three. Then the third inning unraveled in a hurry. Yordany De Los Santos singled to right, where a Caden Powell bobble allowed two runs to score, one charged to the single, one to the error. Easton Carmichael and Jared Jones followed with back-to-back RBI singles and after a walk loaded the bases, Santos was pulled. Raimy Rodriguez entered and was greeted immediately by a moonshot from Tony Blanco that cleared the park. Just like that it was 7-1 Greensboro. Santos finished with a line of 2.2 innings, five hits, and six runs, only one of them earned.
Thomas kept Asheville alive in the fifth, doubling off the wall to score John Garcia and Zach Daudet. But he was the only Tourist getting to Hernandez, and the deficit felt insurmountable at 7-3.
Then the sixth inning happened. Bryce Collins came in to pitch and committed two balks in the same inning, each one scoring a run. The Grasshoppers then pulled off a double steal and the throw down from catcher Keduar Trujillo went wide, allowing Wyatt Sanford to slide home standing up. Greensboro capped the chaos when another Trujillo throw sailed into left field on a steal attempt by De Los Santos, who never stopped running and scored easily. Four runs on two balks and two throwing errors. 11-3 Greensboro.
Powell gave the crowd something to cheer about moments later, crushing a 421-foot solo home run that traveled almost halfway up the mountain beyond left-center field. 11-4. But Jared Jones answered with his own solo shot in the top of the seventh, and the Tourists were staring down an eight-run deficit with nine outs to go.
That’s when the shirts came off.
All game long, fans behind the plate had been pulling their shirts over their heads and waving them in the air, a trend sweeping ballparks around the country known as “tarps off.” What had been a spirited crowd tradition became a full-throated rallying cry as the Tourists came to bat in the seventh.
Powell doubled to center to score Thomas. A wild pitch from Lobo scored Ethan Frey. Then Nehomar Ochoa Jr. stepped in. Just two nights earlier, Ochoa had arrived in Asheville by Uber from Single-A Fayetteville, a two-hour ride that ended with him hitting a home run off the video board in his Tourists debut. Tuesday night he did it again, driving a three-run shot into the seats to make it 12-8 and send the crowd into a frenzy. After a pitching change brought in Kyle Larsen, the rally appeared to stall with two outs. Then Zach Daudet delivered a two-run single to make it 12-10 and keep the inning alive.
Then came the magic moment. With two runners on, Chase Call stepped in as a pinch hitter for Frey, who had been hurt earlier sliding into home. Call rocketed a three-run home run to give Asheville a 14-12 lead. The stadium exploded. Fans streamed through the aisles waving their shirts above their heads. Thirteen batters had come to the plate in the inning. The Tourists had scored ten runs. Asheville had its first lead since the first inning.
Colby Langford navigated trouble in the eighth, putting two runners on before recording back-to-back strikeouts to preserve the lead. John Garcia added an insurance run on a fielder’s choice in the bottom half to make it 15-12.
Then the ninth inning tested every nerve in the building.
Eurys Martich came on and couldn’t find the zone. His first eleven pitches were all balls, eventually walking three straight to load the bases. After Yordany De Los Santos singled to score one, Carmichael hit a deep fly to right that scored another. But Call made a perfect throw to third to cut down Sanford tagging from second, and what could have been a two-run single became a one-run out. 15-14 Asheville, two outs.
De Los Santos stole second, then broke for third. Martich’s pitch got past Trujillo, ruled a passed ball, and De Los Santos never stopped, sliding home to tie the game at 15. He flung his helmet in celebration. Martich induced a flyout to left to send it to the bottom of the ninth. Despite his rocky night, he was still credited with the win.
Thomas came up with one out. Victor Cabreja delivered. Thomas unloaded. The ball cleared the wall and HomeTrust Park came completely unglued. Thomas was mobbed at the plate, had the Gatorade cooler dumped over his head, and then pulled his shirt off and waved it above his head in salute to the fans who had done it all night.
He finished 4-for-5 with two home runs and five RBIs in a game that will be told and retold in Asheville for a long time.
The Tourists have won four of their last five and improve to 13-39. Greensboro falls to 33-20. The two teams meet again Thursday night at HomeTrust Park for Thirsty Thursday. Cole Hertzler takes the ball for Asheville against Greensboro’s Cameron Keshock. First pitch is set for 6:35 p.m.