Brandon Downes and Ryan O’Hearn may not want to go back home to Lexington after the end of this series.
The two Legends players combined for six hits Sunday afternoon as the Legends defeated the Asheville Tourists 6-3. The Tourists played from behind the entire way, but kept it close until the final two innings.
In the top of the first it was O’Hearn who delivered for the visitors. With Carlos Garcia at third, O’Hearn lifted a fly ball into centerfield that was deep enough for a sacrifice fly. The Tourists tied the game 1-1 with a sacrifice fly of their own in the bottom of the first.
The Legends jumped in front 2-1 on a Wander Franco RBI single in the third. Downes made it 3-1 with a lead-off Home Run in the fourth; his third Home Run in the past two games. Asheville took advantage of a Garcia error in the bottom of the fourth. With Wes Rogers at second, Drew Weeks hit a groundball that bounced off of Garcia’s glove into centerfield. Rogers raced home to make it 3-2.
The scored stayed the same until the top of the eighth. That is when the Legends put together a two-out rally netting a pair of runs. Kyle Pollock had an RBI single as did Garcia. Randy Reyes was able to garner one of those runs back with a lead-off Home Run in the bottom of the eighth, but Downes delivered another RBI single in the ninth.
Asheville did put a runner aboard in the bottom of the ninth, but ended up dropping their second straight to the Legends. Rogers finished 4-for-4 with a pair of doubles. He is the first Tourists player to record a four-hit game this season. Lexington’s starter Matt Tenuta had to leave the game in the first inning after a Rogers line drive struck him square in the leg. The Legends bullpen tossed the final 8.2 innings of the contest.
The series finale is a Monday morning affair with the first pitch set for 11:05am.
(Article written by Doug Maurer of the Asheville Tourists.)