Melton and Blubaugh Shine; Tourists Lose Third Straight

WINSTON-SALEM- The Asheville Tourists fell to the Winston-Salem Dash 9-2 on Tuesday night in a game that was much closer than the final score indicated. Asheville led for most of the game but Winston-Salem took advantage of a few fielding miscues and recorded some timely hits to seize control.

Jacob Melton led off the game by hitting the very first pitch over the right-centerfield wall for his eighth Home Run of the year. Asheville added to their 1-0 lead in the top of the fifth when Kobe Kato doubled into the right-centerfield gap and Michael Sandle raced home to put the Tourists on top 2-0.

A.J. Blubaugh was dominant through his first four innings on the mound. The Dash managed only one hit off A.J., an infield single, and stuck out six times. Blubaugh allowed two baserunners in the bottom of the fifth before departing due to his pitch count. Both runners would eventually score but the game remained tied 2-2 after five.

The Dash then scored four runs, all with two outs, in the bottom of the sixth. Winston-Salem added three more in the seventh to put the game away.

Asheville committed a season-high five errors in the game. Logan VanWey worked a scoreless inning out of the Tourists bullpen lowering his season ERA to 3.55. Melton finished 2-for-3 with a walk and Sandle reached base in all three of his plate appearances.