Yankees Drop Opening Game In Bristol 9-3

Bristol, VA - The Yankees dropped their third straight game and the first game in a two game series against the Bristol Pirates Sunday night 9-3.

Yoendrys Gomez suffered his first loss of the season after pitching five innings and gave up five hits and four runs although the Pirates earned only one of those runs. Bristol scored four runs in the bottom of the second inning to jump out to an early lead after both teams went three up and three down in the first.
After getting the leadoff batter to strike out, Gomez gave up a double and a walk before throwing the ball away on a fielder's choice to load up the bases. Gomez then walked in a run and then gave up a single to allow another run across. Another single plated another Pirate before the Yankees finally got the third out of the inning.
Gomez settled into a groove over his last three innings and only gave up two hits over his final two innings to minimize the damage and keep the Yankees within striking distance. Pulaski finally did push across a run in the top of the fourth inning after Antonio Cabello drew a lead off walk before a pair of singles from Roberto Chirinos and Oliver Dunn pushed Cabello across the plate.
The Yankees got another run back in the fifth inning when Cabello hit a double to left field and scored on another single from Chirinos to cut the Pirate lead to just two runs at 4-2. The lead stayed that way until the bottom of the seventh inning when Bristol scored another two runs on a pair of hits including a double to left field. Pulaski kept battling into the eighth as they scored another run off a Ryder Green double that scored Chirinos who made it on base with a lead off single and his third hit of the evening to bring the score to 6-3 in favor of the Pirates.
Bristol tacked on another three runs in the bottom of the eighth to give themselves some additional insurance although it was not needed as the Yankees placed a pair of runners on in the top of the ninth with two outs but could not score and ended the game 9-3.
Even in defeat, Chirinos was a bright spot for the Yankees offense as he went 3-5 with a RBI and Green hit his sixth double of the season, which leads all Pulaski players. Jake Pries also hit a double in tonight's game to give him four doubles in as many games. Pries was selected in the 24^th round of this year's draft and has shown some power in his limited time here in Pulaski.
The loss extended the losing streak for Pulaski to three games and extended the Pirates win streak to five games. Bristol is one of the hottest teams in the league right now and has won 10 of their last 12 games. The Yankees will look to cool off the Pirates tomorrow night as the teams conclude a short two game series in Bristol before the Yankees return home for a seven game home stand starting on Wednesday night.
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.