July 7, 2019–6:54 p.m.
KEVIN KAREL
Nicaraguan left-hander Dilmer Mejia led the way for the Rome Braves on Sunday afternoon as they defeated the visiting Asheville Tourists 4-1 at State Mutual Stadium. The victory gave Rome a split of the four-game set and kept the Braves in first place in the Southern Division standings.
Mejia had his longest outing of the season, going 7 innings and allowing only one run on five hits. He struck out two and did not walk a batter while earning the win. With Mejia’s start, the Rome rotation finished off an incredibly successful series in which they provided 29.2 innings and allowed one earned run in four games.
Mejia and Asheville starter LHP Alfredo Garcia kept things scoreless until the 4th inning when both teams got run-scoring rallies. The Tourists took the lead 1-0 on an RBI single by Coco Montes. Rome would answer immediately as Drew Campbell led off the Bottom 4th with a walk and then scored on an RBI double by Braden Shewmanke.
Tied 1-1 the Braves got the lead in the 6th inning and again a leadoff walk helped to spark the lineup. Justin Dean reached on the free pass and later scored on a two-out double into right from Shea Langeliers. Rome added two more tallies in the 7th inning on an RBI single by Campbell and another RBI double from Shewmake.
Reliever RHP William Woods pitched two scoreless innings to record the save. He allowed one hit, no walks and struck out two Tourists batters.
Shewmake went 2-4 with two doubles and two RBI. Langeliers was 1-4 with a double and an RBI. Campbell was 1-3 with an RBI and a walk. Griffin Benson was 1-2 with a double and two walks. Dean went 0-2, ending his hitting streak at 14 games. But he was instrumental in the late inning rallies with two walks, two runs scored and two stolen bases.
The Braves finish their brief homestand with two wins and two losses and will enjoy an off day on Monday. The six-game road trip begins in Charleston, South Carolina on Tuesday evening. Rome will play three at Charleston versus the RiverDogs then head back to Kannapolis Friday-Sunday for three games with the Intimidators. Rome’s next home game is Monday, July 15th against Lexington.
Rome Braves (10-8, 40-47): 4 R 6 H 0 E
Asheville Tourists (8-10, 37-51): 1 R 6 H 0 E
W: Dilmer Mejia (5-1)
L: Alfredo Garcia (2-9)
S: William Woods (2)
Time: 2:28
Attendance: 1,409
