Spartanburgers’ Late Rally Comes Up Short

Hub City scores eight unanswered but loses by two

Close play at second base.

By Hub City Spartanburgers

July 1, 2026

ASHEVILLE, N.C. — The Tourists (7-4, 24-52) pounced on the Spartanburgers (4-7, 38-39) early Wednesday night. Heading to the eighth inning, Hub City trailed 10-0; the 'Burgers managed eight runs across the next two innings. The Spartanburgers brought the tying run to the plate in both the eighth and the

ASHEVILLE, N.C. — The Tourists (7-4, 24-52) pounced on the Spartanburgers (4-7, 38-39) early Wednesday night. Heading to the eighth inning, Hub City trailed 10-0; the 'Burgers managed eight runs across the next two innings. The Spartanburgers brought the tying run to the plate in both the eighth and the ninth but came up short in a second straight 10-8 defeat at HomeTrust Park.

The Tourists jumped on Spartanburgers starter Izack Tiger in the first. Justin Thomas Jr. walked, Nehomar Ochoa singled and Chase Call drove them both in. In the second, Cesar Hernandez doubled with one out, and Freuddy Batista scored him with a single. Tiger (L, 0-2) struck out three through two innings.

Brock Porter entered for the third and fanned two Tourists while facing the minimum. In the fourth, Asheville caused two-out trouble. Batista doubled to score Alejandro Nunez; three pitches later, Thomas hit a two-run homer. The Tourists scored a third two-out run against Porter in the fifth, when Marcus Brown singled and plated Nehomar Ochoa Jr.

The ‘Burger bats were unsuccessful against Asheville starter Yeriel Santos (W, 3-5), who threw six scoreless innings for the first time in his minor league career. The right-hander allowed two hits, walked two, and hit two.

Case Matter couldn’t silence the Tourists’ bats in the bottom of the sixth. Batista singled, Caden Powell walked, and Call cleared the bases with his 11th home run of the season. Hub City trailed 10-0 after six innings. Owen Proksch would provide scoreless innings in both the seventh and the eighth on the mound for Hub City.

After Garrett Apker held the ‘Burgers off the board in the seventh, he loaded the bases to start the eighth on a walk and two singles. Raimy Rodriguez entered and walked Gleider Figuereo to bring in the first run for Hub City. After a popout, Quincy Scott drove a line drive to right field. Right fielder Chase Call put his hands up to signal the baseball was lodged under the wall, and the umpires declared him wrong, leading to an inside-the-park grand slam. Two more walks put two on with two outs, and Yeison Morrobel singled to make it 10-6. One more Rodriguez walk loaded the bases.

Michael Cuevas came out of the bullpen to face Hector Osorio, representing the tying run. Cuevas struck out Osorio in a nine-pitch battle. Cuevas returned for the ninth. He walked Figuereo and surrendered a moonshot homer to Maxton Martin to cut the deficit to two. With one out, Antonis Macias bunted his way aboard to get the tying run to the dish again. Cuevas (S, 1) finished the deal with back-to-back strikeouts.

Hub City searches for its first win of the week on Thursday night at 6:35 p.m. ET. Kellan Oakes (0-1, 15.00 ERA) gets the baseball for Asheville to face Hub City’s Kamdyn Perry (0-1, 6.88 ERA).

About the Hub City Spartanburgers

The Hub City Spartanburgers are the High-A affiliate of the Texas Rangers and the reigning South Atlantic League South Division Champions. For more information on the Spartanburgers, visit milb.com/hub-city. For information about tickets to any of Hub City’s 66 home games, call 864-594-0701 or email: tickets@hcspartanburgers.com. For media inquiries, email: iunsworth@hcspartanburgers.com. Follow along with the Spartanburgers on social media.