Tourists take Suns sightseeing

July 22, 2010

ASHEVILLE, N.C. -- Jeff Kobernus drove in four runs with one swing of the bat.

But the Hagerstown Suns still let a whole busload of runners get away.

Hagerstown's second baseman hit his first home run of the year -- a grand slam -- on Wednesday but the Suns' inability to cash in on 15 runners who were stranded on base led to a 13-10 loss to the Asheville Tourists.

The Suns (46-50) squandered a 9-7 lead by allowing four runs in the seventh and two more in the eighth for another late-inning loss.

Asheville took an 11-10 lead in the seventh after Ben Graham (1-1) replaced Suns reliever Patrick Arnold with two runners on base. Nolan Arenado had an RBI single and Helder Velazquez followed with a two-run double to tie the score. The Tourist took the lead on Dallas Tarleton's RBI single.

Asheville added two runs in the eighth on Jared Clark's second home run of the night.

Kobernus broke a 1-1 tie in the second with one swing of the bat.

Brett Newsome led off the inning with a single off Asheville starter Tyler Matzek and took second on a wild pitch. Sandy Leon walked and Eury Perez reached when his sacrifice bunt was thrown away by Matzek to load the bases.

Koberus followed with a drive that carried over the fence in left field for the 5-1 lead.

The game see-sawed from there as Asheville scored four in the third -- two on Clark's first home run -- to tie the game at 5.

The Suns scored two runs in the fourth and one in each of the fifth and sixth innings to regain the 9-7 lead. Destin Hood had an RBI single in the fifth and Kobernus had an RBI double in the sixth.

Kobernus drove in five runs for the Suns, while Hood and Leon had two hits each.

Paul Demny started and allowed six runs in 3 2/3 innings.

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