Joel Diaz recorded his first four-hit game of the 2017 season on Monday night, part of a 12-run, 17-hit outburst by the Asheville Tourists offense.
The pitching staff was equally as good and Asheville won the series finale over Augusta by a score of 12-3.
Both teams started hot. The Tourists fell behind when Skyler Ewing gave the GreenJackets a 1-0 lead with an RBI single into right. Bobby Wernes answered with an RBI double to tie the game in the bottom of the first. Wernes would later score on a throwing error by Ewing; one of five GreenJackets errors in the game.
After Augusta tied the score in the second on a Sandro Fabian Home Run, Asheville pounded out four second inning runs of their own. Diaz began the big inning with an RBI double to score Max George. Carlos Herrera made it 4-2 with a sacrifice fly. Manny Melendez later tripled home Ben Johnson and Jose Gomez added an RBI single to the mix.
The Tourists tacked on four more runs in the fifth. Diaz connected with another RBI double, Herrera followed with an RBI single, and Johnson clubbed a two-run Home Run. Tyler Nevin added a two-run single late in the game to complete the scoring.
Antonio Santos notched his third win in his last three starts. The Tourists right-hander tossed six innings and allowed two runs. Santos’ final four innings on the mound yielded only two base-runners. Raffi Vizcaino suffered the loss and surrendered nine runs in 4.2 innings of work.
(Written by Doug Maurer of the Asheville Tourists.)