Ramos' 11th Inning Blast The Difference In Tourists Win

LEXINGTON, KY-- Roberto Ramos was 0-for-4 entering his 11th inning at-bat on Monday night. The Asheville Tourists' first-baseman stepped to the plate with runners at first and second, two outs, and the score tied 3-3. After a quick mound visit, Ramos dug in and was ready for something over the plate on the first pitch. He was right. Ramos absolutely crushed the Lexington Legends offering over the centerfield wall for a three-run Home Run. Asheville retired the side in order in the bottom of the 11th to secure the 6-3 win.

The Tourists were quiet offensively and did not score their first run until the seventh. Grahamm Wiest kept Asheville in the game by pitching seven innings of one-run ball. In the seventh, the Tourists received an RBI single from Josh Fuentes to tie the game. They nearly took the lead when Drew Weeks attempted a straight steal of home plate. He nearly executed it to perfection but was tagged out at the last second.

Asheville did jump in front with a pair of runs in the eighth. They took advantage of two Legends errors and put down a suicide squeeze for the latter of the runs. In the bottom of the ninth, with Lexington down to their final strike, Corey Toups delivered with a ground-rule double to plate a pair of runs. Josh Michalec was able to retired Humberto Arteaga to end the threat and then pitched a scoreless tenth.

The Tourists should have been retired in order in the 11th, but another Legends error ended up costing the home team. With two outs, Luis Jean struck out on a ball in the dirt. Chad Johnson threw down to first base to complete the strikeout but his throw came up short. With Jean at first, Weeks singled into left and that paved the way for Ramos' heroics.

Asheville now leads the series two games to one as the Legends were able to defeat the Tourists 7-2 on Sunday evening. The series finale is scheduled for Tuesday with a 7:05pm first pitch.