Seven First Inning Runs Leave Asheville Tourists On Wrong End Of Blowout

The Asheville Tourists and Savannah Sand Gnats met Friday night for the second game of their best-of-three playoff series.

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The Asheville Tourists had a chance to sweep a best-of-three series on Friday night with a victory, but couldn’t come close as the rival Savannah Sand Gnats scored seven first-inning runs en route to a 9-2 victory over the Colorado Rockies’ class A affiliate.

With the victory, Savannah ensures there will be a Saturday night best-of-three deciding game between the two teams, where the winner will move on to the South Atlantic League Championship Series.

The Tourists never did much on offense — only Forrest Wall and Josh Fuentes enjoyed success on the day, and both had just an RBI single apiece as the Tourists managed only single runs in the sixth and seventh innings. By then, though, the game was already out of control after starter Carlos Polanco struggled out of the gate for Asheville, giving up seven first-inning runs.

Polanco allowed two singles, three doubles, and two walks, and never made it out of the first inning, allowing all seven runs while recording just two outs in the frame.

He was relieved by Yoely Bello, but the damage was already done. Later in the game, Grahamm Wiest (4 IP, 5 H, 1 ER) and James Lomangino (3 IP, 2 H, 0 ER), threw well in long relief to save some of the Tourists’ bullpen for Saturday night, but it didn’t matter on this day, since the bats never got going against Sand Gnats’ starter Ricky Knapp.

Speaking of Saturday, at 6:05 pm ET on the 12th, the Tourists and Sand Gnats will meet one more time in Savannah. The winner of that game will move on to the South Atlantic League Championship Series. The Tourists, of course, won that series last year, and are looking to repeat in 2015; as of now, they still have a shot.

We’ll have more tomorrow night from the Tourists as they play an all-or-nothing elimination game in Savannah.

(Screenshot via KKCO.)

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