Astros fall to Blue Jays despite late-inning rally
July 22, 2015 - Appalachian League (ApL)
Greeneville Astros News Release
Luis Payano of the Greeneville Astros
(Greeneville Astros, Credit: Hunter Reed)
Greeneville, TN "" The Greeneville Astros dropped game two against the Bluefield Blue Jays on Wednesday night by a score of 6-5. Although they led early in the contest, the Astros were unable to hang on and pick up the victory. Greeneville remains in first place in the Appalachian League West division, sitting two games above the Kingsport Mets.
Greeneville got off to a hot start by scoring a run in the bottom of the first inning. Osvaldo Duarte drew a leadoff walk from Blue Jays starter Dan Lietz and then stole second base for his eighth swiped bag of the year. He eventually scored on a groundball up the middle off the bat of Ford Stainback, and Greeneville got out to a 1-0 lead.
The Astros scored their second run in the bottom of the third inning thanks to the same Duarte-Stainback combination. With two outs, Duarte singled on a groundball into left field and then advanced to second on a Dan Lietz balk. Stainback then connected for a line drive up the middle to score Duarte and record his third RBI of the series.
Chris Murphy got the start for the Astros Wednesday night and had another strong outing. Tossing three innings of one-hit baseball, Murphy added two strikeouts to his season total of 16 without allowing a run to score. His ERA on the season dropped to 2.25 through 16 full innings of work.
The Blue Jays got one back in the top of the fifth inning. Freddy Rodriguez tripled to right field to lead things off and then came in to score on an infield groundout.
The Astros held on to a 2-1 lead through the sixth inning. However, the Blue Jays tied the game in the seventh after Juan Tejada came across to score on a wild pitch.
The Blue Jays took the lead, and then some, in the top of the eighth. A total of four runs came in to score as Bluefield batted around the order. Five walks, two wild pitches, a home run, and a throwing error put the Astros behind 6-2, after having led the game for six innings.
However, down by four runs, the Astros offense refused to give up and gave the fans a show in the bottom of the ninth. Hector Roa started off the rally by clobbering a ball to deep centerfield that smacked off the top of the fence for a double. Justin Garcia drew a walk and Randy Cesar extended his hit streak to ten games on a line drive to load up the bases. Luis Payano then came up and sent a fly ball over the centerfielder's head for a bases-clearing double. Unfortunately, the rally ended there and Greeneville lost the game 6-5.
Samil de los Santos was accredited the loss after entering the game with one out in the seventh inning and pitching through part of the eighth. Matt Bower, Houston's 23rd round pick in the 2015 MLB draft, made his Greeneville Astros debut in the sixth tossed a 1-2-3 inning, striking out one. Alberto Guzman picked up the win for the Blue Jays.
The Astros will decide the series with Bluefield on Thursday night at 7:00 PM at Pioneer Park, gates open at 6:00 PM.
The Astros are the Appalachian League affiliate of the Houston Astros. For more information, visit www.greenevilleastros.com or call (423) 638-0411.
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 Luis Payano of the Greeneville Astros (Hunter Reed) |
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