By Boyd Hayes

Behind some solid numbers for the month, the Lexington Legends improved to 10-5 in June with Saturday night’s 4-1 victory over the Asheville Tourists.

Coming up big for the Legends was right handed starting pitcher Jonas Dufek, who pitched seven innings with as many strike outs. The only real blemish in Dufek’s otherwise great game was a single homer from Asheville’s Jared Simon in the second inning. The score stood at 1-0 in favor of the Tourists until the sixth inning, as Dufek continued to put up good numbers.

Dufek showed signs of fatigue at the beginning of the seventh, allowing a single and a walk, but then pitched into a double play and struck out one last batter in what was his final inning of the night. He improved to 4-1 for the season (3-0 in June) with an overall ERA of 4.87.

He would be followed on the mound by Evan Grills and Dayan Diaz, who would combine to pitch two innings with no walks, no hits, and no runs.

Jay Austin also came up big for the Legends, both on offense and on defense. He had two stolen bases on the night, and reached base three times thanks to two walks and one HBP. On defense he made a stellar diving catch in the fifth.

Austin was just activated for the Legends on June 15, and has played great in his first two games. He saw time for Lexington in 2011 as well.

Legends catcher Roberto Pena had a good night, stretching his hitting streak to 11 games with a single in the fifth. He also threw out Asheville’s Brian Humphries on an attempted steal of second base in the fourth inning.

Legends Zachary Johnson and Mike Kvasnicka both recorded two hits on the night, Johnson picking up 2 RBIs.

Quiet on offense until the sixth, the Legends left a lot of men on base. Once the hitting started in the sixth, though, the Tourists had no substantial answer, and Lexington ended the night with seven hits to Asheville’s three.

Second baseman Delino DeShields, Jr. was three stolen bases away from the Legends single season record going into Saturday’s game, and despite an attempt at stealing second base in the first, he remains three steals short of the record. He did cross home plate in the seventh inning, but that was the extent of his offensive effectiveness in the game.

The final game of the Lexington-Asheville series is at 1:35 p.m. on Sunday, June 17, and the ceremonial first pitch will be thrown out by former UK basketball star Jodie Meeks. The Legends look to tie up the series with a win and improve to 39-30 on the season, moving a game closer to Asheville, who lead the South Atlantic League Southern with a 47-22 record.