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The Asheville Tourists aren't messin' around.
By the end of the fourth inning in Game 1 of their South Atlantic League Championship Series against the Hagerstown suns, the Tourists were leading 14-0. The Suns would crawl back into it a little bit late in the final innings but the game was never really close, finishing with a 16-7 victory for Asheville.
As you might expect with so many runs scored, most of the Asheville offense had a pretty good day. In fact, the only position player to get an at-bat but not record at least two hits was Wilfredo Rodriguez who walked and scored a run in his only at-bat of the game - a pinch hit for Jose Briceno.
Briceno must have been tired from running around the bases with a 2-3 performance including a double, a home run, two runs scored and three RBI. Briceno's HR was surprisingly the only ball that left the yard in a game where the scoreboard felt like a pinball machine.
Not to be outdone in the knocking in runs department, Ryan McMahon drove in four with a 3-5 day that included a walk and a double. McMahon's constant doubles are no accident; his swing naturally produces gap-to-gap line drives.
McMahon's RBI partner in crime all season, Correlle Prime, drove in another three runs on three hits, continuing his monster season.
Of course, those run producers can't do much if the table isn't set, and it was all night with Raimel Tapia and David Dahl going a combined 5-10 with four runs scored and a walk apiece.
Man, when does that lineup let up? It certainly wasn't after all those names last night as Jordan Patterson actually led the team with four hits including a double and a triple.
All told, the Tourists racked up 23 hits, five doubles, seven walks, and of course those 16 runs.
Konner Wade pitched five innings, striking out six, allowing only three hits and walking nobody. Alex Balog struggled a little in relief, giving up three runs in 2.1 innings followed up by Carlos Estevez who surrendered two runs in 1.2 innings while certainly focusing on throwing strikes only with such a big lead.