Danville Falls 6-5 to Greeneville
July 11, 2019 - Appalachian League (ApL)
Danville Otterbots News Release
DANVILLE, Va. - After a slow start that saw Danville not record a hit until the fifth inning, the D-Braves very nearly came away with a big rally in the ninth inning but ultimately came up short 6-5 against the Greeneville Reds Thursday night.
Danville scored three runs in the ninth and had a tying runner standing on third but was unable to complete a big comeback after trailing 6-0 after two innings. The D-Braves bullpen turned in possibly their finest performance of the year, retiring 21 of the 23 batters they faced and giving up just one hit and one run in 7.2 innings of work.
After the game was delayed one hour and 13 minutes due to rain, the Reds put runners on second and third before scoring one run in the first inning on a wild pitch from Danville starter Peyton Williams. Williams got out of the inning without allowing any further runs, but Greeneville hit a three-run home run and picked up a two-run triple to knock Williams out of the contest. Zach Daniels came on and gave up one additional run on a wild pitch before getting out of the inning.
Danville struggled at the plate for the majority of the game, drawing walks in the first, second and fourth inning, but the D-Braves were unable to come up with a hit until Cody Birdsong led off the fifth inning with a single. Two fly outs to left field and one to center stranded Birdsong.
Meanwhile, Daniels retired all 11 batters he faced in his 3.2 innings of work, the longest outing of his pro career. He also set a new career high in strikeouts, fanning seven batters. Kenny Wells came to the mound in the sixth inning and continued where Daniels left off, retiring the side.
In the bottom half of the frame, Danville's bats finally came to life. It started with a leadoff single from Cody Milligan and continued the next at-bat with a Brandon Parker double. Milligan came home on a wild pitch that advanced Parker to third, and Beau Philip knocked in Parker with an RBI groundout to make it 6-2.
Wells gave up a leadoff walk in the seventh to end the streak of retired Greeneville batters at 14, but a fly out and a double play ended the inning without any more scoring. In the bottom half of the inning, Birdsong lined a double to right field to open the frame. After a Michael Mateja fly out, Mitch Calandra doubled to right, but was thrown out rounding second heading to third, where Birdsong had held up. Jose Palma struck out to end the inning and the scoring threat.
After a quiet eighth inning that saw both sides retired, Danville came up in the bottom of the ninth still trailing 6-2 after Alex Aquino allowed no runs in the top half. With one out, Ray Hernandez singled and was followed up by Birdsong drawing a walk. With two men on, Mateja double to left field to knock in Hernandez and advance Birdsong to third. Calandra then knocked down his second double of the day to score both Birdsong and Mateja and narrow the deficit to 6-5 with one run and the tying run on third. Despite the opportunity, a groundout and a fly out ended the game and dashed Danville's hopes.
The teams will meet for the final game of the series Friday night at 6:30 p.m.
Appalachian League Stories from July 11, 2019
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