Astros come up short after early lead
June 21, 2014 - Appalachian League (ApL)
Greeneville Astros News Release
Greeneville, TN - The Greeneville Astros hosted the Elizabethton Twins at Pioneer Park in game two of their season-opening series on Friday night. The Astros took an early 2-0 lead in the first inning, but ultimately came up short in the 6-4 contest.
The game was initially delayed one hour due to heavy rain, pushing the start time back to 8:00pm. However, the Astros came out hot. Jason Martin led off with a base hit and stolen base, then advanced to third on an error. Sean McMullen then brought him home with a RBI single, and Jacob Nottingham doubled on a line drive to center field to give the Astros two early runs.
In the fourth and fifth innings, the Twins took advantage of their opportunities and evened the game. In each inning, the leadoff hitter for Elizabethton drew a walk and eventually made it around the bases to score on a wild pitch.
The Twins finally took the lead from the Astros in seventh inning with a little help. After getting on base with a walk with one out, Elizabethton's Austin Diemer moved to second on another wild pitch and eventually scored on a throwing error by the Astros to give them a 3-2 lead. Then, after the Twins loaded the bases with no outs in the eighth inning, they tacked on three more runs to push their lead to 6-2.
In the bottom of the eighth, Greeneville's Sean McMullen led off with his third hit of the night. Eventually, he would score his second run of the night on a wild pitch by the Twins. Then, the Astros added one more run when Bryan Muniz grounded into a force out to cut the Twins lead to 6-4. In the ninth inning, Greeneville's first two batters, Jason Martin and Ramon Laureano, were walked and it appeared a rally could be in the works. However, the Twins struck out the final three hitters and clinched their second straight victory.
The winning pitcher for the Twins was right-handed reliever Dereck Rodriguez. After entering the game in the fifth inning, Rodriguez pitched three innings, gave up two hits, no runs and struck out one.
Greeneville will host Elizabethton in the final game of the three-game series on Saturday. First pitch is set for 6:00pm. Following the conclusion of the Elizabethton series, the Princeton Rays will visit Greeneville for a three-game series beginning Sunday.
Appalachian League Stories from June 21, 2014
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- Astros come up short after early lead - Greeneville Astros
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