A long day of frustration came to a climax during the final at-bat of a 7-0 Augusta GreenJackets' loss to the Asheville Tourists Sunday at Lake Olmstead Stadium.

GreenJackets designated hitter Angel Villalona had already struck out twice when his swing and miss in the bottom of the ninth inning ended the game. Villalona's final swing, a hard, direct blow to the dirt just outside the batter's box, shattered his bat.

It wasn't the first time the 17-year-old prospect let his anger get the best of him. But it was a telling gesture of just how frustrated he and his teammates were on a day when the South Atlantic League Southern Division's first-half champions beat the home team convincingly.

GreenJackets manager Andy Skeels, who called Villalona's post-strikeout antics "counterproductive" and "not something we advocate," said it was that kind of day.

"Today, we didn't have anything going for us," he said. "Whenever you play a first-place team, if you just show up and go through the motions like we did today, you're going to get your hat handed to you."

A day after Augusta starter Madison Bumgarner shut out the Tourists, it was Asheville's turn to rely on a dominant pitching performance.

Starter Connor Graham threw eight shutout innings, allowing four hits and striking out five batters for his fifth win of the year.

"You've got to give a lot of credit to their guy," Skeels said. "He threw an excellent game. He had command of all his pitches."

Asheville designated hitter David Christensen led the Tourists at the plate with a 2-for-3 day, including a solo home run in the fourth inning for a 4-0 lead.

The first three runs of the game came in the third, when the Tourists loaded the bases on three consecutive hits to start the inning.

Kevin Clark moved everyone up 90 feet with an RBI single to right field, and the runners advanced again on a catcher's interference call when Augusta's Matt Klimas got in the way of Darin Holcomb's swing on a 3-2 pitch. Brian Rike followed with an RBI sacrifice fly.

Augusta starter Craig Clark suffered his first loss of the year, giving up four earned runs on seven hits.

With regulars Nick Noonan, Charlie Culberson and Jackson Williams getting the day off, Thomas Neal was the bright spot on offense.

The big first baseman, who entered in an 0-for-15 slump, was 2-for-4 with a double.

Reach Billy Byler at (706) 823-3216 or billy.byler@augustachronicle.com.