Astros fall in extra innings thriller
June 25, 2015 - Appalachian League (ApL)
Greeneville Astros News Release
Bristol, VA - The Greeneville Astros returned to Bristol on Wednesday, June 24th for game two of their three-game series with the Pirates. Greeneville, who took game one on Tuesday night, suffered their first loss of the season, falling to the Pirates 4-3 in extra innings.
The Astros began the game with the 6'1" lefty Yhoan Acosta on the mound. Acosta, who turned 20-years-old on June 17th, dominated from the hill for five consecutive innings, surrendering just four hits and striking out two.
The Pirates reached the scoreboard first with Jordan George scoring on a Sandy Santos triple to left field. However, Acosta bounced back by striking out the next batter and getting Tomas Morales to flyout to end the inning, stranding Santos at third.
The Astros got a man aboard early in the top of third as catcher Gabriel Bracamonte reached on a fielding error, and then advanced to second base on a balk. Bracamonte moved to third on a ground ball by the second baseman Rodrigo Ayarza, but was stranded there as the Astros were unable to get the two-out hit to bring him home.
Greeneville took the lead in the top of fourth as the Astros strung together a series of base hits and plated two runs. The inning led off with Myles Straw singling on a groundball up the middle for his second hit of the season. He advanced to third on a Kevin Martir base hit to right field, and later came in to score on a wild pitch, giving the Astros their first run of the game. The clean-up hitter, Justin Garcia, then came up and doubled to right, plating Martir from second and putting Greeneville on top of the scoreboard. Aaron Mizell later singled and stole second base in the inning, but the Astros were unable to bring him home.
Bristol tied up the game at two runs apiece in the bottom of the fifth inning as Sandy Santos led off with a double to left field and scored on an errant throw. However, once again Acosta was able to maintain his composure and recorded a pop-out, a strikeout, and a groundout to end the inning, limiting the damage.
Ryan Deemes, the 36th round pick from Nicholls State University, took over on the hill for the Astros in the bottom of the sixth inning. After surrendering an early single, Deemes settled in and forced a couple of flyouts and a groundout to maintain the tie ballgame. Deemes stayed in the game through the ninth inning, retiring the next six batters he faced and allowing just two hits.
In the bottom of the ninth, with the game tied at 2-2, the Pirates saw their first two batters reach base on fielding errors by the Astros infield. However, Deemes was able to buckle down and, after a couple of flyouts to centerfielder Myles Straw, he forced a groundball to shortstop Osvaldo Duarte who made the inning ending play at the plate.
The Astros looked to end the game in the tenth as Luis Payano drew a walk to begin the inning. After a sacrifice bunt from Rodrigo Ayarza, Osvaldo Duarte singled to right field to score Payano from second. A couple of nice throws from Pirates catcher Tomas Morales to catch two Astros attempting to steal second ended Greeneville's 10th inning attack.
The Astros' closer Juan Delis took the mound in the bottom of the 10th in his first save opportunity of the season. Three consecutive Pirates singles brought the tying run home before the first out could be recorded. Then, with one out in the inning, Trae Arbet hit a sacrifice fly ball to centerfield to score the runner from third and win the ballgame for Bristol.
The two teams will travel to Greeneville on Thursday, June 25th, for one game at Pioneer Park to break the 1-1 series split. The home opener will begin at 7:00 PM, with gates opening one hour before. Fans arriving early will have the opportunity to receive a free magnet schedule and hot dog. An opening day fireworks show will immediately follow the conclusion of the game.
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- Astros fall in extra innings thriller - Greeneville Astros
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