Greeneville Astros rally past Blue Jays for sixth straight win

July 17, 2016 - Appalachian League (ApL)
Greeneville Astros News Release


Greeneville, TN - A forty-two minute rain delay pushed back the scheduled start time, but a little wetness did not keep the Greeneville Astros (12-11) and the Bluefield Blue Jays (10-11) from playing a competitive game on Saturday night. Trailing late, the Astros rallied for a three-run eighth inning to defeat the Blue Jays, 7-5, and propel them to a season-high six-game win streak.

The Astros threatened to score early as they loaded the bases in the first inning on three consecutive walks with one out. However, all three were ultimately left stranded.

In the second, it was three up, three down for the Blue Jays. Meanwhile, the Astros left another runner stranded at second.

Astros left-hander Patrick Sandoval walked two batters with two outs the third, but his teammates on the field where able to back him up and get the third out with no runs allowed.

With two outs in the bottom of the third for the Astros, Abraham Toro-Hernandez tripled on a fly ball to right field. Then, with Connor MacDonald up to bat, there was a wild pitch thrown and Toro-Hernandez was able to score to put Greeneville on top 1-0.

The Astros lost the lead in the next inning as the ball game progressed to the fourth. After a Jesus Severino two-run double, Diogenes Almengo was brought in as a reliever. Then, Nick Sinay followed with a two-run single before first baseman Troy Sieber was able to make the final out of the inning with a pop up in foul territory.

In the bottom of the fourth, Frankeny Fernandez led off for the Astros with a line drive double into right field. Next up to bat Jonathan Arauz hit a ground rule double on a fly ball to right, scoring Fernandez to make it a 4-2 game.

The next scoring threat came for the Astros in the bottom of the fifth as they loaded the bases after MacDonald, Fernandez and Arauz were all consecutively walked with two outs. However, the three batters were all left on base again due to a ground out to first.

The Astros came right back in the sixth, and Vicente Sanchez got hit by a pitch to get on base and stole second. Then, following a Sierra walk, Bryan De La Cruz hit a triple to score both Sanchez and Sierra to tie the game at 4-4.

In the seventh inning, both the Blue Jays and Astros scored no runs and had no hits to take it into the eighth. Then, with two outs, the Blue Jays got a Ridge Smith solo homer to regain the lead once again before Astros reliever Reggie Johnson came on to get the final out of the inning.

The Astros, trailing 5-4, got a leadoff single from Sanchez in the bottom of the eighth. Next, Sierra was hit by a pitch to put runners at first and second. Then, with one out, Sieber hit a two-run double to centerfield and put the Astros back on top. Finally, Connor MacDonald gave the Astros an insurance run when he knocked in Sieber on a single to right field to give the Astros a 7-5 lead.

In top of the ninth, Johnson came back out for the Astros and closed the door on the Blue Jays to earn his first professional win. He finished with one and one-third inning while surrendering just one hit, one walk, and two strikeouts.

The Astros will play game number two against the Blue Jays at Pioneer Park on Sunday at 6:00pm. Left-hander Salvador Montaño will be on the mound for Greeneville.

The Astros are the Appalachian League affiliate of the Houston Astros. For more information, visit www.greenevilleastros.com or call (423) 638-0411.



Appalachian League Stories from July 17, 2016


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