6-run 4th inning powers Astros past Braves

Greeneville, TN - The Greeneville Astros (29-32) took an early lead and put together a six-run inning to help them claim the second game of their three-game series against the Danville Braves (29-30) on Thursday night. With the 10-5 win, the Astros are now just four games behind the Elizabethton Twins for the final playoff spot in the Appalachian League West Division. 

The 10 runs for the Astros were the most for the club at Pioneer Park all season and the most in any game since a 12-4 win at Elizabethton on July 11.

In the first inning, Stijn van der Meer led off with a single to centerfield and advanced to second on a passed ball. Then, with one out, Abraham Toro-Hernandez and Troy Sieber hit back-to-back RBI doubles to put the Astros on top, 2-0.

In the top of the second, the Braves got one run back with a Bradley Keller RBI single on a pop up to shallow right field.

Astros pitcher Devon Carr entered the game in relief of starter Ben Smith and sent three up, three down over each of the next three innings. The lefty's outing, in which he collected three strikeouts, would eventually earn him the win. Meanwhile, the Astros' bats broke the game open.

The Astros put up a six-run fourth inning to push their lead to 8-1. It all started with back-to-back singles by Carlos Machado and Chaz Pal to start the inning before they advanced to second and third on an Oscar Campos sacrifice bunt. Then, Machado scored on a wild pitch and Pal came home on a van der Meer single. Later, with two outs and the bases loaded, Jonathan Arauz drew a walk to bring in the third run of the inning. Then, Reiny Beltre cleared the bases with a three-run triple. 

In the bottom of the fifth, the Astros loaded the bases once again. Then, Toro-Hernandez hit a sacrifice fly to score Campos and give the Astros their biggest lead of the night at 9-1.

The Braves scored three runs over the sixth and seventh innings on two sacrifice flies and a Ramon Osuna bases-loaded walk. Later, in the ninth, Osuna also added their final score on a sacrifice fly.

The final run for the Astros came back in the bottom of the seventh inning, and it was one of the highlights of the night. Frankeny Fernandez, who extended his on-base streak to 22 games, hit a line drive into centerfield that rolled to the wall and allowed him to race all the way around for a rare inside-the-park home run.

The Astros finished the night with 10 runs on 12 hits. Leading the way were van der Meer, Toro-Hernandez, and Sieber who each went two-for-four while Machado went two-for-five.

The Astros and Braves will be back on the field to play game three of the series on Friday night at 7:00pm. Jorge Guzman will be the starting pitcher for the Astros against the Braves' Jhon Martinez.

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