Twins drop game to Astros, hold onto league standing
Published 10:38 pm Monday, August 24, 2015
The Greeneville Astros, after tying things up in the seventh, topped the Twins 3-2 Monday at Pioneer Park.
Greenville’s Connor Goedert gave the Astros the go-ahead run in the bottom of the eighth when he came home during a sacrifice fly by Rodrigo Ayarza.
With the loss, the Twins fell to 31-28 on the season as Greenville moved to 30-29, sliding into third place in the West. The Twins are in second behind the Kingsport Mets (33-26).
The Twins started the scoring Monday night as they posted a run in the top of the fourth inning, with Alex Perez tagging home during a double play by the Astros.
Elizabethton got on board again in the sixth as Jermaine Palacios posted a run during a sacrifice fly by Zander Wiel to put the Twins up 2-0 going into the bottom of the sixth. However, the Astros were able to extinguish the Twins’ lead as they posted two runs in the bottom of the frame, with Greenville’s Myles Straw and Randy Cesar both snagging runs and tying the game up at two apiece.
At the mound, Andor Cutura opened things up for the Twins. Cutura threw for five innings, during which he struck out five batters while walking two. He finished the night with five hits and two runs against him. Cutura handed the ball over to Nate Gercken (0-3), who received the loss, in the sixth inning. Gercken finished the out the game, while recording two strikeouts against two walks. He had four hits and one run against him.
Greeneville’s Carlos Hiraldo, who relieved opening pitcher Edgardo Sandoval in the sixth, recorded the win for the Astros, after throwing for three. Astros’ Samil De Los Santos recorded his third save of the season after striking out three batters in the ninth, ending the game.
At the plate, the Twins finished the night with four hits, with Perez going 2 of 4. The Astros had nine hits for the night. Astros’ Rodrigo Ayaza went 2 of 3 with an RBI, while his teammate Kyle Tucker finished 2 of 4 with a double and an RBI.
Over the weekend, the Twins dropped their game with the Pulaski Yankees 3-4, before defeating the Astros Sunday 8-6.
In the East, the Yankees rule the roost, with a 38-22 record as the Princeton Rays (33-27) sit in second place.
The Twins will play one more with the Astros today, before heading over to Johnson City on Wednesday to play just one game with the Cardinals. On Thursday, Elizabethton will host a three-game series with Kingsport as the Mets and Twins duke it out for the top spot in the West.
