TWINS TOP CARDINALS IN EXTRAS 7-6

JOHNSON CITY, TN - For the fifth time in 2019, the Elizabethton Twins played extra innings and for the fourth time in those five games, the E-Twins came out on top, beating the Johnson City Cardinals 7-6 in 10 innings.
Thursday night's battle was a back-and-forth game in the purest form possible, with the lead changing six times.
Elizabethton struck for an impressive 15 hits and were led by Anthony Prato, who went 4-5 with a two-run home run in the seventh that proved to be a critical difference in the one-run game.
Four other E-Twins had two or more hits, the bottom four hitters in the lineup. Max Smith, Charles Mack and Willie Joe Garry Jr. each had two hits, while Kidany Salva collected three and was the only Twin that scored twice.
While Johnson City scored a run in the first inning, Elizabethton struck for three in the fourth. Smith singled in Seth Gray, Mack brought Smith home on a sacrifice fly and Garry Jr. singled home Salva.
The Cardinals responded with three runs of their own to take the lead once again in the bottom of the fourth, but Elizabethton was back on top just a few innings later, as DaShawn Keirsey tied the game on a sac fly and Prato's second home run of the year broke the tie.
Sawyer Gipson-Long struggled in his fifth start of the year, allowing three earned runs on five hits and two walks over 3.2 innings. Osiris German did a good job of keeping the Twins in the game, though, reliving Gipson-Long with 3.1 scoreless frames, surrendering just two hits and two strikeouts.
Steven Cruz had issues with control when taking over for German, walking two in the eighth and one more in the ninth before turning the ball over to Benjamin Dum for a save. A pair of mistake pitches from Dum with two outs in the ninth led to an RBI triple and the game-tying run to be scored on a wild pitch.
Elizabethton took advantage of wild pitches in the 10th, as Matt Wallner advanced to third and proceeded to score on back-to-back wild pitches to give Elizabethton the lead back.
Dum was lights-out in the bottom of the 10th, retiring Johnson City 1-2-3 to earn his second win of the season.
The Twins and Cardinals continue the series in Elizabethton Friday night, at 6:30 p.m. with a Joe Mauer bobblehead giveaway for the first 500 fans through the gates.
For tickets and more information, visit elizabethtontwins.com.