Snow Game Yields Tough Result

ASHEVILLE- Monday night at McCormick Field featured the Asheville Tourists, the Rome Braves, and a lot of snow. The two teams played through a windy blizzard for nine innings. In the end, the visiting Braves held off the comeback minded Tourists to win 9-6.
Rome took a 1-0 lead in the second inning on Drew Lugbauer 's lead-off Home Run. Asheville's starting pitcher, Antonio Santos , retired the next nine batters following the longball, but ran into more trouble in the fifth. The Braves pounded out three runs on five singles to take a 4-0 lead.

In the bottom of the fifth, Casey Golden launched his third Home Run of the season; a solo shot over the left field wall. Rome countered with a run in the top of the seventh however Asheville responded with RBI base hits from Chad Spanberger , Bret Boswell , and Taylor Snyder to make it 5-4.
Both teams exchanged runs in the eighth. The Braves used an RBI single off the bat of Jean Carlos Encarnacion while Golden delivered with an RBI single for the Tourists.
With the score 6-5 entering the ninth, Rome plated three unearned runs including Lugbauer's second Home Run of the game. Asheville's Ramon Marcelino went deep to lead off the bottom of the ninth but the Tourists fell 9-6.
Kyle Muller was impressive for the Braves. The starting pitcher faced the minimum number of hitters through four innings and his only blemish was Golden's Home Run. Santos finished with nine strikeouts in his six innings of work for the Tourists but suffered the loss and dropped to 0-2 on the season.
The same two teams are back in action on Tuesday night, preferably in warmer conditions.