Cardinals spoil Astros season opener
June 24, 2016 - Appalachian League (ApL)
Greeneville Astros News Release
Greeneville, TN - Opening Day is in the books for the Greeneville Astros. It was a hot Thursday night as the Astros took on the Johnson City Cardinals. Both teams were fighting for the lead throughout the game, as there were six lead changes, but in the end the Cardinals came out on top with a 10-6 win.
The game started off strong for the Astros in the bottom of the first inning with a triple by leadoff hitter Miguelangel Sierra. Luis Payano, who is a returning player from the 2015 Appalachian League championship team, came up next and hit a sacrifice fly to center to score Sierra, putting the Astros first run on the board.
The Astros held the Cardinals in the top of the second and came out swinging in the bottom. Wander Franco started the Astros off by hitting a double. Two batters later, Frankeny Fernandez singled on a line drive to left field that brought in Franco to make the score 2-0 in the Astros' favor until the fourth inning.
The Cardinals scored three in the top of the fourth on a two-run Joshua Lopez triple and a passed ball. There were two walks and a hit by pitch during the inning.
Even after the Cardinals scored their initial three runs, the Astros came back in the bottom of the fourth to add two more runs to make it a 4-3 ballgame. It started when Spencer Johnson led off the inning by making it to first on a strike out, wild pitch. Wander Franco, who went two-for-three with two extra base hits on the night, then came up to bat and hit a two-run homer over the left field fence for the first homerun of the 2016 season.
The Cardinals regained the lead with two more runs in the top of the fifth. The scores came off a Luis Bandes RBI single and a Joshua Lopez sacrifice fly. The Cardinals then held the Astros in the bottom of the fifth while Greeneville did the same to them in the top of the sixth.
The bottom of the sixth is where the Astros took the lead again. With two outs, De La Cruz drew a walk. Fernandez then singled on a ground ball that pushed De La Cruz to second base. Gabriel Bracamonte, another returning player to Greeneville, followed with a two-run double that scored De La Cruz and Fernandez.
Down 6-5, the Cardinals scored four more runs in the top of the seventh for the sixth and final lead change of the night. There were five Cardinals hits and two wild pitches that contributed to the scores during the inning with the go-ahead run coming off a Joshua Lopez RBI single.
Johnson City tacked on an insurance run in the top of the eighth inning off a throwing error. Meanwhile, the Astros stranded two men on base in the bottom half of the eighth and another one in the ninth.
The Astros used three pitchers for the night while the Cardinals used four. Saldana finished the game strong for the Astros by allowing just one hit and striking out four in just one-and-two-thirds innings. Yeison Medina picked up the win for the Cardinals.
Left-hander Patrick Sandoval, who was drafted in the 11th round in 2015, will be taking the mound for the Astros tomorrow against Cardinals fellow lefty David Oca at 7:00pm.
For more information on the Greeneville Astros please visit www.greenevilleastros.com or call (423) 638-0411.
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