ASHEVILLE, N.C. — Saturday night at HomeTrust Park belonged to the pitchers. And one red-hot outfielder.
Nolan Devos and Garrett Apker combined for seven innings of dominant baseball, and Chase Call continued one of the best individual stretches of the season as Asheville beat Winston-Salem 4-2 to clinch the series with one game remaining.
Devos was sharp from the first pitch, going five innings with six strikeouts and allowing just one run. When he ran into trouble in the fifth. A leadoff single and a double putting runners on second and third with nobody out. Apker came in with an ERA north of 16 and needing a confidence boost badly. He got one in a major way. Apker struck out three straight batters to escape the jam without allowing a run, then came back out and struck out two more in the sixth. Two innings, no hits, no runs, five strikeouts. It was the best outing of his season by a wide margin.
Asheville gave the pitching staff all the support it needed early. John Garcia singled to score Alejandro Nunez in the second for his sixth RBI of the series. 1-0. Then Caden Powell stepped in the third and crushed a solo shot over the scoreboard to make it 2-0. Call followed immediately with a high fly ball to right that twisted toward the corner and curled just fair over the foul pole for a home run. 3-0. James Taussig hit a solo shot for Winston-Salem in the fifth to trim it to 3-1, but that was all the Dash would get for a long time.
Jordan Carr came on in the eighth and retired the side in order. Jack Moss added insurance with an RBI single to score Call and push the lead to 4-1. Carr came back out for the ninth and gave up a wall-scraper leadoff home run to Arxy Hernandez to make it 4-2, but closed the door from there to pick up his first save since 2023.
Call has been in a different stratosphere during this homestand. He is hitting .500 with five home runs and 19 RBIs across the homestand. His team-leading 15th home run Saturday was just the latest example of a player who has carried the Tourists offense for weeks.
Asheville improves to 13-7 in the second half and retakes sole possession of first place in the South Atlantic League Southern Division following a Bowling Green loss Saturday night. The Tourists and Dash wrap up the series Sunday afternoon at HomeTrust Park. Dylan Howard takes the ball for Asheville against Winston-Salem's Tommy Vail. It will be a bullpen day for the Dash. First pitch is set for 1:05 p.m.