Astros roll over second place Mets, 17-1

Greeneville, TN - In a match-up of the top two teams in the Appalachian League West Division on Sunday night at Pioneer Park, the Greeneville Astros (28-15) rolled to a 17-1 victory over the Kingsport Mets (25-18). The Astros' 17 runs marked a new season high and came within a single run of tying the club's all-time record. The Astros now have a three game lead over the Mets in the division.

The game began with two scoreless innings before the Astros exploded for a season-high seven-run third inning. With the bases loaded and no outs, Marc Wik got a base-clearing triple on a line drive to right-center field. For Wik, it was one of four hits on the night. Tyler White immediately followed Wik with a RBI single. Finally, with one out and runners on first and second, Ariel Ovando smashed a three-run homer deep over the right field wall to suddenly give the Astros a 7-0 lead.

The Astros kept rolling in the fourth inning. With runners at first and third, Chase McDonald connected on a RBI single for one of his three hits on the night. Ovando, one inning after his third homer of the year, then dropped a RBI double into shallow right field. Finally, Juan Santana followed with another three-run home run for the Astros to put them up 12-0.

In the fifth inning, the Astros tacked on a couple of more runs to make the score 14-0 when Tyler White hit the Astros' third home run of night. For White, the two-run shot was his second hit of the night and his second homer since joining the Astros in mid-July.

The Mets finally got on the scoreboard in the sixth inning with a solo homer from Michael Bernal after Astros' starter Jordan Mills exited the game. Mills (W, 3-1) only gave up two hits through five innings and struck out seven batters on his way to earning the win.

Still leading 14-1 going into the bottom of the eighth inning, the Astros added three more runs to get to their season high mark of 17. With the bases loaded and no outs, Chase McDonald got his second RBI single of the night. Then, Ariel Ovando drew a bases loaded walk to add another before Juan Santana finished off the scoring with a sacrifice fly to bring Edwin Gomez home.

After a league-wide off day on Monday, the Astros will travel to Bristol to take on the White Sox in a three-game road series from Tuesday through Thursday. On Friday, the Astros will return home for a crucial three-game series with the Kingsport Mets to conclude their 11-game season series with each other. For more information on the Greeneville Astros, please visit www.greenevilleastros.com or call (423) 638-0411.