Astros Take Game 2 with Convincing 8-Run Margin

KINGSPORT, Tenn.- The Greeneville Astros cruised to their seventh-straight victory Saturday night at Hunter Wright Stadium with 10 runs combined through innings six and eight as the Astros downed the Kingsport Mets 14-6 in Game 2 of the series.
Three-consecutive singles was how this ballgame was underway as Greenville attacked Kingsport starting pitcher Garrison Bryant early on. Following singles from both Cody Bohanek and Gilberto Celestino, Adrian Toevalin delivered another single on the infield dirt at short stop that scooped off the glove of Edgardo Permin and allowed Bohanek to trot around and score from second base.
Two batters later, Roman Garcia sent a deep drive to left field to bring in Celestino for the second run of the inning as the Astros led 2-0 before even taking the field.
Kingsport did not take long to answer back as the home team put up a run off three hits in the bottom of the frame to cut the early deficit in half at 2-1 by inning's end.
Batting second in the inning, Rigoberto Terrazas nearly homered to right-center field, but a robbing attempt from Astros right fielder Patrick Mathis actually kept the baseball in the ballpark as Terrazas had to settle for only the one-out double. Nonetheless, Kingsport's third baseman came around to score two batters later on an RBI single from Jeremy Vasequez to put the first run on the scoreboard for the Mets.
The Astros were silent in the second inning but were back at it in the third as the club's designated hitter drove in his third run of the day. Toevalin stepped in a took a 1-0 pitch over the left field wall in a hurry-bringing in Celestino who walked prior-to make the new score 4-1 in favor of Greeneville through 2 ½ innings at Hunter Wright Stadium.
Leading 4-1 and looking to add more, the Astros plated four runs off only three hits in the top of the sixth to increase their lead to seven runs at 8-1. The big blow of the inning came from a three-run home run off the bat of Ruban Castro. An inning later in the seventh, a sac fly from Robert Mathis, an RBI single from Boahanek and an error allowed three more runs to cross.
Kingsport managed to plate four runs combined in innings seven and nine to end the contest as 14-6 victors. In the seventh, Wagner Lagrange laced an two-run double to left field and in the ninth, Terrazas singled in Angel Manazanarez while Lagrange grounded in another.
Despite not laying down, the Mets fell by eight runs on the night after collecting only 10 hits in defeat. Greeneville tallied 13 hits and 14 runs on the night during the eight-run win, despite committing four errors in the field.
Picking up the win on the night was the starter Rodriguez (3-0) as the right-handed pitcher tossed five innings of one-run baseball with five strikeouts. Tim Hardy and Austin Kerns combined to pitch the final four innings while surrendering five runs.
Bryant (0-3) takes the loss for Kingsport despite striking out a career-high seven batters compared to only two walks. Through five innings, the 19-year-old gave up four runs off five hits. Ronald Sanchez had a day to forget out of the bullpen as the steady reliever yielded four runs in only 1/3 of an inning of work. Yeudy Colon and Ryan Selmer combined to go the final 3 2/3 innings during the blowout defeat.
The Astros had five players record multi-hit days, but were paced by the long ball thanks to the two-run bomb from Toevalin in the third inning and the three-run shot from Castro in the sixth. Kingsport saw Vasquez and Lagrange plate two runs while Terrazas also collected a multi-hit day.
Game 3 of the four-game series is set to begin Sunday afternoon at 4 p.m. from Hunter Wright Stadium. Jose Geraldo is set to take the hill for Kingsport as the Kingsport Mets Baseball Network takes the air with the Braeden's Barbeque Pregame Show begins at 3:45 p.m.