Globe iconLogin iconRecap iconSearch iconTickets icon

Yankees Lose Series Finale 10-5 Against Burlington

July 6, 2019

Burlington, N.C. - The Pulaski Yankees dropped their second game in a row as they were defeated 10-5 in the series rubber match against the Burlington Royals on Saturday night.

Burlington, N.C. - The Pulaski Yankees dropped their second game in a row as they were defeated 10-5 in the series rubber match against the Burlington Royals on Saturday night.

The Royals jumped out to an early lead as they scored two runs in the first inning on three hits including double to right-center field off Yankees starting pitcher Leonardo Pestana. The Royals added another two base runners in the bottom of the second before Pestana was replaced after dealing with some pain in his arm. Pestana came into the game without earning a decision in his first two appearances and has struggled with his command as he has walked 13 batters and let across 12 earned runs in only 10.1 IP.
Burlington's offense didn't stop rolling after Pestana left the game and Luis Ojeda came in earlier than anyone on Pulaski's staff was expecting. Ojeda gave up four hits and four runs in the rest of the bottom half of the inning as the Royals took a commanding 7-0 lead after the first two innings of play.
The Yankees finally pushed a run across in the third inning thanks to a Ryder Green opposite field solo home run with two outs.
The Royals just kept hitting though and added three runs of their own in the third inning and did some damage with a two-out solo home run of their own. Ojeda was able to keep the Royals quiet in the fourth inning but that damage was already done. Ojeda and Pestana combined to pitch four innings and gave up 11 hits and 10 earned runs before Alex Mejias took over on the mound.
Mejias came in and pitched well without any pressure as the team was already down nine runs when he entered the game. He pitched the remainder of the game for Pulaski and only allowed two hits in his four innings and struck out three batters. The Yankees started the seventh inning with a bang as Roberto Chirinos and Gustavo Campero went back-to-back home runs to lead off the inning and Jake Pries hit his first of two doubles on the night to give the Yankees three straight extra base hits and showed some fight and resiliency. Pries came around to score two batters later when Anthony Volpe hit a sacrifice fly to right field to score and deliver his fourth RBI of the year.
Pulaski scored one more run in the top of the ninth when Pries hit his aforementioned second double of the game and Volpe hit a ground ball to score him and end the scoring at 10-5 in favor of Burlington.
The Yankees will try and bounce back tomorrow night as they head to Bristol to face off against the Pirates in a two game series before an off day on Tuesday. The Yankees and Pirates will face off for the first time this year and Bristol comes in to the game hot after a three game sweep of the Greenville Reds on the road. First pitch is scheduled for 6:00 p.m. from Bristol.
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.