Bullpen Helps Lead Tourists to Their First Win

ASHEVILLE- The Asheville Tourists earned their first win of the 2021 season on Wednesday night with a 6-1 victory over the Brooklyn Cyclones. Asheville’s bullpen carried a majority of the load when starting pitcher Cole McDonald left the game in the second inning with an injury.

The Tourists took a 1-0 lead in the bottom of the first with back-to-back two out hits. Korey Lee served a single into right field and Scott Schreiber followed with an RBI triple off the left field wall. In the top of the second, Chandler Casey replaced McDonald two pitches into the inning. Casey kept the Cyclones at bay and earned the win with four scoreless innings.

Asheville provided some run support in the fourth on one hit combined with four walks. A.J. Lee’s RBI groundout pushed the lead to 2-0 and Enmaunel Valdez cleared the bases with a two-run single into right, followed by a lengthy rundown that allowed a third run to score on the play.

Brooklyn’s lone run came in the form of a solo Home Run by Luke Ritter in the seventh. The Tourists kicked the lead back out to five when Ramiro Rodriguez plated Freudis Nova with a single in the eighth. Danny Cody and Devin Conn finished the job McDonald and Casey started with four strong innings pitched down the stretch.

The Tourists bullpen has combined to throw 15 innings over their first two games and sports an ERA of 2.40 as a unit. The same two teams will take the field Thursday night at 6:35pm for game three of the series.