Tourists drop third straight at home

ASHEVILLE, NC - The score wasn’t the main area of attention on Friday night at McCormick Field, as the Asheville Tourists fell 10-5 to the Greensboro Grasshoppers — it was the potential brawl and later ejection.

During the middle innings, Tourists (19-24) reliever Brett Gillis found himself in an argument with someone from the Grasshoppers (30-13). It didn’t take long for the managers to get involved, as the benches and bullpens cleared. The event did not end physically, but both sides ended the scuffle on edge.

Later in the game, on a separate note, Will Bush was ejected from the contest after arguing balls and strikes, which sent Asheville’s largest crowd of the year, 3,711 fans, into a frenzy.

Inside the lines, both offenses started hot. The Grasshoppers plated four in the first to open the game. Kenni Gomez answered in the home half of the inning with a three-run blast.

Greensboro went on to outscore Asheville six to two throughout the rest of the night. Lucas Spence delivered a final highlight with a solo homer in the eighth inning.

On the mound, Alain Pena (L, 2-5) made it through just one inning as the starter, allowing four runs on three hits and two walks. The final two arms, Gillis and Railin Perez, allowed two runs in a combined six and one-third innings, racking up 12 strikeouts.

Hoping to put an end to the skid tomorrow, the Tourists will be back to the grind against the Grasshoppers for Game 5 of the series with a 6:05 p.m. ET first pitch. Asheville can still secure a series split with two wins to close the series.