The Greenville Astros (Rookie; Houston Astros) split a four-game series against the Kingsport Mets (Rookie; Mets). After dropping the first two games of the series, the Astros were able to even things up and walk away with the series split.
Game 1: Greenville 3 - Kingsport 4
W- Craig Missigman (1-0)
L- Samil De Los Santos (0-1)
The Greenville Astros fell behind early in the game by surrendering a run in the bottom of the first inning. Kingsport third baseman Eudor Garcia lifted a sacrifice fly to left field, scoring shortstop Luis Guillorme from third base, to give the Mets a 1-0.
Both teams were beneficiaries of great pitching through the first six innings of the game. Greenville used a pitching tandem -- comprised of two 2014 MLB Draft picks -- to get them through seven innings of the ballgame without allowing an earned run. The run that Kingsport scored in the bottom of the first inning was not an earned run, as Greenville third baseman Cesar Carrasco committed a fielding error with one out in the inning. Greenville sent right-handed pitcher Dean Deetz -- the Houston Astros' 11th round draft pick in the 2014 MLB Draft -- to the mound to start the game. He struck out three batters in four innings and allowed three hits, a walk and an unearned run. He lowered his sky-high ERA from 8.00 to 6.55 following his outing on Saturday. Deetz as then relieved by another 2014 MLB draft pick -- Brock Dykxhoorn.
Dykxhoorn was drafted in the sixth round by the Houston Astros -- five rounds ahead of Deetz. The right-hander came on in relief of Deetz and tossed three scoreless innings. He allowed just one hit and a walk while striking out four batters.
Greenville Managed to take the lead in the top of the seventh inning. Second baseman Antonio Nunez and center fielder Edwin Medina drew bases-loaded walks with one out in the inning to give Greenville a 2-1 lead. First baseman Yonathan Mejia followed that by grounding into a force out that scored right fielder Alex Mendez from third base to give the Astros a 3-1 lead.
Greenville held onto their two-run lead until the bottom of the ninth inning. Right-handed pitcher Samil De Los Santos was called on to pitch the bottom of the ninth inning after he pitched a scoreless frame in the bottom of the eighth inning. Santos surrendered a single and back-to-back doubles to begin the bottom of the ninth inning. He threw a wild pitch to the next batter he faced and that would prove to be a critical mistake made by Santos. Kingsport designated hitter Vicente Lupo advanced to third base on the wild pitch. Santos was able to strikeout the next two batters he faced, but with two outs in the inning, Lupo stole home plate to give Kingsport a 4-3 walk-off win.
Game 2: Kingsport 4 - Greenville 3
W- Elieser Hernandez (1-0)
L- Sam Gibbons (3-4)
S- Zach Davis (4)
Greenville once again lost to Kingsport by a score of 4-3. For some odd reason, Game Two of the series was a home game for Greenville. They got a great start from right-handed pitcher Agapito Barrios. He hurled six innings, allowing just one run on a hit and a walk. He also struck out six batters in his outing. Barrios is having an outstanding season in Rookie ball this year. Coming into Sunday's game, he was sporting a 2.41 ERA. Following his six-inning start, he lowered it to 2.30 and now has 40 strikeouts in 47 innings pitched this season.
Greenville was down to their final two outs, when shortstop Jeffry Santos hit an RBI single into centerfield to tie the game a 3-3 in the bottom of the ninth inning. However, Greenville gave the lead right back to Kingsport in the top of the 12th inning. Kingsport first baseman Zach Mathieu grounded out to Greenville shortstop Jeffry Santos, but it was enough to score Vicente Lupo from third base and give Kingsport another 4-3 victory. It was the second game in a row that Lupo scored the game-winning run for Kingsport.
Game 3: Greenville 12 - Kingsport 3
W- Harold Arauz (1-0)
L- Yoryi Nuez (5-3)
As the series shifted back to Kingsport, the Astros got their first win of the series on Monday as they topped the Kingsport Mets 12-3. Greenville jumped out to an 11-1 lead after just three innings. First baseman Hector Roa got the scoring started by launching a solo homer to dead center field in the top of the second inning to give the Astros an early 1-0. The Mets began to give away more runs as a passed ball and a bases-loaded walk inflated Greenville's lead to 4-0. Kingsport pitching couldn't seem to get things under control in the top of the third inning either, as they threw two wild pitches and the Astros took a commanding 9-1 lead with two outs in the top of the third inning.
Greenville right fielder launched his fourth homer of the season to left field in the top of the sixth inning to give the Astros a 12-1 lead.
The Astros surrendered an unearned run in the bottom of the seventh inning on a fielding error by first baseman Hector Roa and another unearned run on a throwing error by third baseman Cesar Carrasco in the bottom of the ninth inning. However, Greenville's lead proved to be insurmountable and they walked away with a 12-3 win.
Game 4: Greenville 7 - Kingsport 4
W- Davis (2-0)
L- Church (3-5)
S- Peterson (5)
The Greenville Astros headed into Tuesday's ballgame looking to avoid losing the series to the Kingsport Mets. After falling behind 2-0 in the bottom of the third inning, courtesy of a throwing error committed by first baseman Yonathan Mejia, the Astros answered back with five runs in the top of the fourth inning to take a 5-2 lead. Designated hitter Bryan Muniz hit a two-run go-ahead homer to left field to give Greenville a 3-2 lead in the top of the fourth inning. Center fielder Edwin Medina came through with a single that drove in two more runs later in the inning.
Bryan Muniz drove in another run in the top of the fifth inning to give Greenville a 6-2 lead. Kingsport answered by scoring two runs in the bottom of the fifth inning, courtesy of a two-run double of the bat of Zach Mathieu.
Greenville added another run in the top of the ninth inning, as right fielder Ydarqui Marte hit an RBI double to drive in Yonathan Mejia from second base and give Greenville a 7-4 lead heading into the bottom of the ninth inning.
Right-handed pitcher Eric Peterson -- the Houston Astros' 37th round draft pick in the 2014 MLB draft -- tossed a perfect frame in the bottom of the ninth inning to notch his fifth save of the season and give Greenville a series split.
Looking ahead: The Greenville Astros will have an off day on Wednesday before hitting the road to play a three-game series against the Princeton Rays (Rookie; Tampa Bay Rays). The Astros are expected to send southpaw hurler Reymin Guduan (2-3, 4.34 ERA) to the mound to start Game One of the series, right-handed pitcher Brock Dykxhoorn (2-3, 5.13 ERA) to the mound for Game Two and right-handed pitcher Devonte German (0-2, 3.46) to the mound in the final game of the series on Saturday. All of Greenville's games in their upcoming series are expected to start at 7:05 Central Time.