Astros fall to Royals, 7-3
Burlington, NC - The Greeneville Astros (28-30) were defeated by the Burlington Royals (34-23) on Monday night, 7-3. The loss leaves the Astros four and one-half games behind in the Appalachian League West playoff race with 10 games left to play. Meanwhile, the Royals have a one game lead atop the East Division.
The Astros took a 1-0 lead early in the first inning. Outfielder Wilson Amador, who joined the team earlier in the day from the Gulf Coast League Astros, doubled on a ground ball to left field to lead off the game. Then, Stijn van der Meer singled to centerfield to bring Amador home for the first score.
Despite getting on the scoreboard first, the Astros' lead would not last long. In the bottom of the second inning, the first two Royals' batters drew walks before Nathan Esposito tied the game with a RBI single. After a Cristhian Vasquez sacrifice fly and a Tyler Straub RBI single, the Royals took a 3-1 lead.
The Royals would extend their lead by two more scores in the third inning. A Gabriel Cancel leadoff homer came first. Then, Esposito connected on his second RBI single of the night.
In the fifth inning, with two outs, Astros outfielder Vicente Sanchez doubled for the first of three hits on the night and then scored after two Royals' wild pitches. However, a Chris DeVito two-run homer in the bottom half of the inning gave the Royals a 7-2 lead.
In the top of the sixth, Astros outfielder Frankeny Fernandez connected on his 10th double of the season to extend his team-high on-base streak to 20 consecutive games and took third on his team-leading 18th stolen base of the year. However, the Astros were unable to capitalize as Fernandez was left stranded.
Astros' left-handed pitcher Patrick Sandoval entered the game in the bottom of the sixth inning and shutdown the Royals the rest of the way to give his club a chance. Over the final three innings, the 19-year-old pitched three scoreless innings with five strikeouts.
Still trailing by five heading into the ninth inning, the Astros quickly had two outs before Reiny Beltre got on base with a walk. Following an Oscar Campos single to put runners at the corners, Sanchez picked up his third hit of the night on a RBI single to right field to plate Beltre. However, a ground out on the next at-bat concluded the game with the Astros coming up short.
Royals reliever Alex Close (2-0) pitched two and one-third innings of relief and picked up the win. He gave up one run on three hits and struck out six.
The Astros will take on the Royals in the final game of the series on Tuesday at 7:00pm. First-rounder Forrest Whitley will get the start for the Astros against the Royals' David McKay.
The Astros are the Appalachian League affiliate of the Houston Astros. For more information, call (423) 638-0411.