Astros Roll to 9-2 Win over Cardinals
July 10, 2015 - Appalachian League (ApL)
Greeneville Astros News Release
Hector Roa of the Greeneville Astros Rounds Third after a Home Run
(Greeneville Astros, Credit: Hunter Reed)
Johnson City, TN - The Greeneville Astros (8-8) entered their game with the Johnson City Cardinals (8-7) on Thursday night at Cardinal Park looking to get back to their winning ways, and they ended up with one of their best offensive nights of the season so far. Each of the 10 Astros that registered an at-bat got at least one of the club's 15 hits on their way to a 9-2 victory. With the Astros win, the three-game series is now tied at one apiece.
It is still early in the Appalachian League season, but four of the five teams in the West are within a half-game of the division lead. The Cardinals are still holding on to the top spot with the Kingsport Mets (9-8) right behind them. Meanwhile, the Astros and Elizabethton Twins (8-8) are tied for third.
In addition to a great effort at the plate, the Astros also got a good performance on the mound. Ryan Deemes started the game with four scoreless innings allowing just two hits with one strikeout, lowering his ERA on the season to 0.75. Junior Garcia also went four innings and picked up his first win of the year after allowing four hits, two runs, and one earned run, leaving the lefty with a league-leading 0.59 ERA on the year. Finally, Jacob Dorris closed the game with one hit in a scoreless ninth inning.
Offensively, the Astros were paced by first baseman Justin Garcia's three-for-five night with all three hits going for doubles, tying a single-game club record. The 2015 17th round draft pick from Nova Southeastern University also finished with two runs scored and two RBI.
Myles Straw, Aaron Mizell, and Connor Goedert each finished with multi-hit nights as well. Goedert, the reigning Appalachian League Player of the Week, finished two-for-four with two runs and a walk. Currently batting .446, Goedert now has the highest batting average in the league among active players.
Meanwhile, Straw and Mizell each went two-for-five with Straw scoring two runs and Mizell scoring one run with one RBI. The combo was responsible for giving the Astros their initial lead in the first inning on Mizell's RBI single to score Straw.
The Astros tacked on a second run in the second inning when Garcia led off with a double, advanced to second on a Brauly Mejia single, and scored from third on ground ball into a double play.
After the Cardinals scored a run on a Malik Collymore RBI single in the fifth inning to cut the Astros' lead to 2-1, right fielder Hector Roa provided a huge spark for the Astros with a massive three-run homer to left field in the top of the sixth inning. It was his second home run of the week and part of a five-run inning that broke the game open for Greeneville at 7-1. The other two runs in the inning came on a RBI double from Garcia and a bunt single from Osvaldo Duarte combined with a Johnson City error to score Straw all the way from first.
The Astros went on to add two more runs in the eighth on another Garcia RBI double and another Cardinals error. Meanwhile, Johnson City scraped together one more run to get to the final score of 9-2.
The two teams will square off in the rubber match of the series on Friday night at 7:00pm in Johnson City. The Astros will then return home, where they currently hold a 5-1 record, to face the new Pulaski Yankees in a three-game series beginning Saturday at 6:00pm.
The Astros are the Appalachian League affiliate of the Houston Astros. For more information, visit www.greenevilleastros.com or call (423) 638-0411.
Images from this story
 Hector Roa of the Greeneville Astros Rounds Third after a Home Run (Hunter Reed) |
Appalachian League Stories from July 10, 2015
- D-Braves Win Fourth in a Row - Danville Otterbots
- Astros Roll to 9-2 Win over Cardinals - Greeneville Astros
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