Seventh inning rally boosts Astros over Mets

The Greeneville Astros (27-23) squared off against the Kingsport Mets (22-28) Sunday night for game three of their five game series. The back and forth game ended in favor of the Astros as they locked up their first win of the series to the tune of a 5-4 victory.
After a scoreless top of the first, the Astros broke their scoreless inning streak by bringing across one run to take the early 1-0 lead. Center fielder Gilberto Celestino reached base on a one-out walk, advancing to second on a Roman Garcia single. Brody Westmoreland then came up to bat and singled on a line drive to right field scoring Garcia, but was thrown out as he got stuck between first and second trying to stretch a single into a double.
Kingsport answered back by scoring a run in both the second and third innings in nearly the same fashion. Anthony Dirocie and Rigoberto Terrazas each stepped up to the plate with a runner on first, hitting an RBI double with the latter giving Kingsport a 2-1 lead.
Looking to extend their lead in the top of the fifth, the Mets did just that by adding another run. Newcomer Maikel Sepulveda forced a ground out to start the inning, but back-to-back walks and a wild pitch put runners on second and third. Shortstop Hansel Moreno singled on a grounder to center field scoring one and leaving runners on the corners. Right fielder Patrick Mathis held the Mets from scoring again by ending the inning with a double play. Terrazas flew out to right and Mathis collected his second outfield assist of the week by throwing out the runner at home trying to score.
Catcher Martin Figueroa brought Greeneville within a run by blasting his first professional home run in the bottom of the sixth inning. With one out Figueroa crushed a ball over the right field wall making it a 3-2 game still in favor of Kingsport.
The Mets made sure to get that run right back in the top of the seventh by loading the bases with no outs on two singles and a walk. Shortstop Cody Bohanek made the heads up play by getting the force out at home on a grounder that was hit his way for the first out. The Mets scored the lone run of the inning on a bases loaded walk, but reliever Dariel Aquino (2-1) came in to secure the last two outs of the inning limiting the damage.
Greeneville showed their will to win in the bottom of the seventh by plating three runs to take a one run lead. With two outs to start the inning, Bohanek reached base on an error and Celestino walked putting two runners on. Garcia collected his second base hit of the night and his first RBI scoring Bohanek, leaving runners at the corners. A wild pitch brought home Celestino and moved Garcia to second, before he ended up scoring on a double by Westmoreland giving Greeneville the 5-4 lead.
Aquino continued his dominance on the night by retiring the side in the eighth and only giving up a walk in the bottom of the ninth. Aquino ended the night giving up no hits, walking one and striking out four in two and two-thirds innings of work to earn the win.
The Astros play host to the Mets again tomorrow night at Pioneer Park. Right hander Gerardo Bojorquez (3-2) will be on the bump facing off against Joe Cavallaro (2-1) with first pitch set for 7:00pm.  
The Astros are the Appalachian League affiliate of the Houston Astros. For more information, visit www.greenevilleastros.com or call (423) 638-0411.