Second Half Starts with a Bang

ASHEVILLE- The Asheville Tourists began the second half of the season with an 11-3 victory over the Winston-Salem Dash. John Garcia recorded his third multi-Homer game in the last 11 days and Luis Baez blasted his 10th Home Run of the season in Asheville’s convincing win.

The Tourists and Dash each scored a run in the first inning. Asheville’s came on a two-out RBI single by Ryan Johnson. The two-out hitting continued to manifest in the home half of the fourth. Trailing 2-1, Logan Cerny belted a two-run double to centerfield that gave the Tourists a 3-2 lead. Baez’s two-run Homer made it 5-2 and two batters later, Garcia hit a two-run bomb for a 7-2 Asheville advantage.

Trey Dombroski started and earned the win. The left-hander went five strong and limited Winston-Salem to only two runs. Carlos Calderon pitched the final four innings and earned his first save of the season. Dombroski and Calderon combined for 13 strikeouts in their nine innings of work.

Asheville’s offense plated four more run in the bottom of the sixth. Jackson Loftin and Cerny scored on a Sac Fly and a balk respectively; then Austin Deming crossed the plate on Garcia’s second Home Run of the night. Garcia’s 21-game reach base streak is the third longest active streak in the South Atlantic League.

Game Five of the homestand is scheduled for 6:05pm ET Saturday evening.