Asheville Tourists third baseman Colton Welker made his return to the lineup Thursday after missing more than two months with an injury, helping his team to a 9-8 win in 10 innings over the Augusta GreenJackets.
Welker, ranked seventh in the most recent PuRPs poll, went 1-for-3 in his return with an RBI single in the fifth inning to give the Tourists a 4-3 lead before being removed in a defensive swap in the sixth. The 19-year-old is hitting .364/.408/.529 in 59 games so far this season, which has been his first in full-season ball.
After Welker was removed, Thursday’s game turned into a slugfest for the Tourists with an eighth inning home run from Manuel Melendez sending the contest to extra innings where Asheville got the win thanks to a walk-off base hit from Willie Abreu.
Game Recaps
Triple-A: Salt Lake Bees 12, Albuquerque Isotopes 0
Ryan McMahon (No. 2 PuRP): 1-for-4, 2B
Tom Murphy (No. 9 PuRP): 0-for-4
Jordan Patterson (No.15 PuRP): 0-for-4
Ian Desmond (MLB rehab): 1-for-2, 2B, BB
Jeff Hoffman: 2/3 IP, 4 H, 6 R, 6 ER, 2 BB, 1 K
Double-A: New Hampshire Fisher Cats 4, Hartford Yard Goats 3 (12 innings)
Dom Nunez (No. 14 PuRP): 2-for-6, 2B, HR, R, RBI
Josh Fuentes: 4-for-6, 2B, 2 RBI
High-A: Inland Empire 66ers 19, Lancaster JetHawks 15 (10 innings)
Garrett Hampson (No. 13 PuRP): 3-for-6, 2B, 4 R, 4 RBI
Sam Hilliard (No. 26 PuRP): 1-for-5, BB, R, RBI
Peter Lambert (No. 5 PuRP): 4 1/3 IP, 10 H, 8 R, 7 ER, 2 BB, 1 K
Low-A: Asheville Tourists 9, Augusta GreenJackets 8
Colton Welker (No. 7 PuRP): 1-for-3, RBI
Tyler Nevin (No. 22 PuRP): 1-for-4, 3B, RBI
Vince Fernandez (No. 25 PuRP): 0-for-5
Short-Season A: Hillsboro Hops 7, Boise Hawks 1
Aubrey McCarty: 2-for-4, 2B, R
Nick Kennedy: 5 1/3 IP, 3 H, 1 R, 1 ER, 1 BB, 3 K
Rookie: Grand Junction Rockies 9, Orem Owlz 4
Chad Spanberger (No. 30 PuRP): 2-for-4, 2 HR, 2 R, 3 RBI, BB
DSL: DSL Mets1 3, DSL Rockies 0
Daniel Montano (No. 19 PuRP): 1-for-3
Friday Probables
Triple-A: Yency Almonte (No. 10 PuRP) vs. Salt Lake, 7:05 p.m. MT
Double-A: Konner Wade at New Hampshire, 5:05 p.m. MT
High-A: Trey Killian at Lake Elsinore, 8:00 p.m. MT
Low-A: Riley Pint (No. 3 PuRP) vs. Lexington, 5:05 p.m. MT
Short-Season A: Pearson McMahan at Hillsboro, 2:05 p.m. MT
Rookie: Anderson Amarista at Orem, 6:35 p.m. MT