Yanks Walk Off Braves, Win 4-3

Pulaski, VA - The Pulaski Yankees used their first walk-off of the season to defeat the Braves 4-3 in what turned out to be a back and forth contest. Tonight's win capped off the three game sweep of Danville and extended the current win streak to four games. It was also the first sweep of the Braves at home for Pulaski since becoming an affiliate of the New York Yankees in 2015.

It was an eventful beginning of the game to say the least tonight at historic Calfee Park. Leonardo Pestana got the start on the bump for Pulaski and got off to a bit of a shaky start.
After striking out the first batter of the game on three straight pitches, the second batter fouled off the first pitch of his at bat before Pestana threw four straight balls. Pestana then hit the next two batters on the first pitch of each at bat to load the bases for the Braves. Another four-pitch walk put the first run of the game on the scoreboard. All together, Pestana threw 10 straight balls before delivering his second strikeout. However, a wild pitch right after scored the second run of the game for Danville. At that point Pestana could have really let things get out of control for himself and the team in just the first inning. Instead, he buckled down and finished the top half of the inning with his third strikeout and left two Braves stranded.
Saul Torres drew a lead off walk in the bottom of the second inning before Gustavo Campero hit a single and moved Torres to second base. A sacrifice bunt from Borinquen Mendez advanced both runners and allowed Torres to score on a sac-fly to right field the very next batter as the Yanks trailed 2-1.
The wackiness of the evening continued in the middle of the third inning.
At some point during the first few innings, home plate umpire Kaleb Devier took a ricochet off his mask and the Yankees trainer ended up taking Devier off the field to evaluate him for a concussion. Field umpire Zach Robbins had to run and change into his protective gear and worked the rest of the game solo behind the plate.
After the rough first inning, Pestana seemed to be dialed in as he lasted through the fourth inning and racked up seven strikeouts without giving up a single hit despite the two runs. The final box score on Pestana's night included four walks and the two hit batters. Nelson L. Alvarez replaced Pestana and struck out the first two batters he faced in the top of the fifth inning.
Antonio Cabello led off the bottom of fifth inning with a double and scored on a Roberto Chirinos single up the middle to tie the game at 2-2. The Yankees looked as if they would be able to take the lead when they loaded the bases with just one out but ultimately failed to push the go ahead run across during the inning and the game stayed tied.
The Yanks finally did break the tie in the bottom of the seventh inning though. Chirinos led off the inning with a double into the left field corner and was able to stretch it to third when the Braves left fielder bobbled the ball. He ended up scoring just two batters later when Chad Bell drove in his team-leading 30th RBI of the season to give the Yanks the 3-2 lead.
Not to be held down long, Danville evened the game up in the top of the eighth inning after hitting back-to-back doubles with two outs off Kenlly Montas who replaced Alvarez in the seventh inning. Montas had retired six of the first seven batters he faced before giving up the two doubles.
The Yanks hit a pair of singles with one out in the bottom of the eighth and the go-ahead run was standing on second base. Yankees manager Luis Dorante got aggressive on the base path and called for a double steal that was perfectly executed and put the go-ahead run just 90 ft. away. In the end it didn't matter though because the Braves got out of the jam with a pair of strikeouts and the game remained heading into the top of the ninth.
After giving up the lead in the eighth, Montas bounced back in the top of the ninth to strike out the first two batters and gave the Pulaski staff their 13th strikeout of the night.
Having just the one umpire almost came back to bite the Yankees and surely made things a little more interesting down the stretch. A bang-bang play at first base that appeared to be an out was called safe and gave the Braves a two out single, and kept the inning alive. Another single gave the Braves runners on the corners with two outs and ended the night for Montas on the mound.
Hayden Wesneski came in to try and get the last out of the ninth and keep the score knotted up at three apiece. He fell behind in the count before getting a ground ball to end the Braves threat and sent the Yanks to the bottom of the ninth with the chance to walk it off.
Chirinos led off the inning with his third hit of the night on a little flair to right field to get the Yankees started. Ryder Green was hit with a pitch to put the winning run on second base for Chad Bell. The Braves wanted no piece of one of the hottest hitters in the league as Bell drew a walk to load the bases with no outs. The Braves finally earned an out by striking out Saul Torres and sent Campero to the plate.
He fell behind 0-2 in the count before he sent a single through the gap between the first and second baseman to score Chirinos and give the Yanks their first walk-off winner of the year and sent the team into frenzy. The guys in the dugout and bullpen spilled onto the field to chase Campero down between first and second base and gave him the proper gatorade bath that accompanies game winning hits. Campero finished the night 3-5 with the one RBI.
The Yanks will hit the road for another six game road trip beginning tomorrow night as the team heads to Greenville to start a three game series against the Reds.
The Pulaski Yankees are the Advanced Rookie level affiliate of the New York Yankees playing in the Appalachian League. Pulaski is celebrating its 54th season in the Appalachian League in 2019. Calfee Park has won league championships in 1948, 1969, 1986, 1991 and 2013. Motor Mile Field at Calfee Park opened in 1935 and was renovated for the team's first season as a Yankees affiliate in 2015. For more information, please visit www.pulaskiyankees.net or follow the Pulaski Yankees on social media, @PulaskiYanks (Twitter, Facebook, and Instagram). This story was not subject to the approval of the National Association of Professional Baseball Leagues or its clubs.