Astros fall to Pirates, 8-3
June 28, 2016 - Appalachian League (ApL)
Greeneville Astros News Release
Bristol, VA - The Greeneville Astros and Bristol Pirates had to wait nearly two hours to get started due to inclement weather on Tuesday night. Once they got started at Boyce Cox Field, the Pirates jumped ahead early and held on to win game two of the series.
After a scoreless first inning, the Pirates took advantage of their opportunities in the second. The inning began with two walks and a wild pitch sandwiched between two batters being hit by pitch. That led to Bristol's first score. Then, Garrett Brown connected on a two-run double before Victor Fernandez and Adrian Valerio each hit a sacrifice fly to bring in a run apiece. When all was said and done in the inning, the Pirates had totaled five runs.
In the third inning, the Pirates loaded the bases with a double and two walks. Then, with two outs, they tacked on another score after a balk to give them a 6-0 lead.
The next four innings went scoreless. For the Astros, Abdiel Saldana was largely responsible as he went three and two-thirds scoreless innings and gave up just two hits while striking out four.
The Astros finally got on the board with two outs in the eighth. Leftfielder Vicente Sanchez, who doubled earlier in the contest, hit a solo homer to right field. In doing so, he kept the Astros streak alive of hitting a homerun in all five games this season and became the eighth different player on the club to hit a round-tripper this season.
The Pirates answered with a two-run single by Valerio in the bottom of the eighth, but the Astros battled to the end. In the ninth, Spencer Johnson ripped a RBI double to left field, and Bryan De La Cruz knocked in another score on a single. However, the deficit was too much to overcome as the Pirates finished the game with an 8-3 win.
Pirates reliever Mike Eckelman got the win for Bristol. He went two innings and surrendered just one hit while striking out two.
The Astros will travel to Bristol one final time this season for game three of the series on Tuesday night at 7:00pm.
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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Appalachian League Stories from June 28, 2016
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- Astros fall to Pirates, 8-3 - Greeneville Astros
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