Cesar, Goedert both homer in Astros loss to Twins

Greeneville, TN - The Greeneville Astros (29-29) lost to the Elizabethton Twins (31-27) Sunday night by a score of 8-6. The loss keeps Greeneville in third place in the Appalachian League West division, two games behind the Twins for second place.

Diogenes Almengo got the start for the Astros and was accredited with his first loss of the season, sending his record to 2-1 and raising his ERA to 2.45. Through his three innings pitched, he allowed four Elizabethton runs on two RBI singles and a sacrifice fly.

Almengo was relieved by Cristhopher Santamaria in the fourth inning who allowed four runs in his one inning pitched while striking out one. Manuel Guzman hit a RBI double while LaMonte Wade and Travis Blankenhorn hit RBI singles.

Starlyng Sanchez and Lachlan Madden combined to throw five scoreless innings to close the game while the Astros attempted to mount a comeback. Sanchez struck out three while Madden struck out two.

The Astros got their first two runs of the game in the bottom of the second inning. Kyle Tucker got himself into scoring position by driving a one-out liner into left field and then stealing second base for his seventh swiped bag of the season. Luis Payano drove him home with a two-out line drive single to give the Astros their first run. Payano himself came across to score after a Twins infield error on a Ford Stainback groundball.

Greeneville tacked on three more runs in the fifth thanks to three consecutive Astros hits. Myles Straw started things off by legging out his third triple of the year on a line drive to right field. He was then knocked in on a Daz Cameron line drive single to give the Astros their third run.

Randy Cesar came up next and sent a blast over the left field fence for his fourth home run of the season, scoring Cameron. Cesar is now tied among current players for the team lead in home runs with Osvaldo Duarte and Connor Goedert.

Goedert sent a pitch over the wall himself in the bottom of the eighth inning as the Astros attempted to get back in the ballgame. The solo home run marked Goedert's 37th RBI of the year, placing him sixth in the Appalachian League in that category.

However, the Astros were unable to overcome the early deficit to the Twins and lost the game 8-6.

Along with Cesar and Goedert, Daz Cameron had a big night at the plate. He collected three hits in his four at-bats while scoring a run and knocking in another. His performance raised his season batting average to .297 and his season hits total to 22.

The Astros will take on the Elizabethton Twins Monday night in game two of the three-game series at Pioneer Park. Game time will be at 7:00 PM with gates opening at 6:00 PM. It will be Autism Awareness Night at the park sponsored by the East Tennessee Autism Society.

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