BY ALLEN LAMOUNTAIN

STAR CORRESPONDENT

What looked like a solid pitching matchup pregame turned out to be anything but.

For the second night in a row, Elizabethton Twins second baseman Reuben Santana struck a walk-off double – this one in the 10th inning – to stake the Twins to a 13-12 victory over Johnson City on Sunday night at Northeast Community Credit Union ballpark.

“We buy into each other and play to the end,” Santana said through translator and pitching coach Richard Salazar. “We just keep fighting.

“I just want to stay patient and wait for my pitch and I keep my approach the same every time.”

The Twins (15-10) had to come back from a deep hole where they trailed by 9-3 after an eight-run Cardinals fourth inning that saw two home runs and two doubles.

Trejyn Fletcher struck a three-run homer against Twins starter Prelander Berroa following a leadoff double from Liam Sabino and a walk to Diomedes Del Rio to give the Cards a 4-3 lead.

A double by Terry Fuller and an outfield error brought home another run as did a single from Del Rio before Mateo Gil hit his third home run of the season to give JC a six-run cushion.

Elizabethton took a 3-0 second inning lead on an RBI fielder’s choice from designated hitter Charlie Mack, a fly ball out that saw a throwing error plate the second run and a run-scoring single from catcher Kidany Salva.

‘Betsy chipped away scoring four runs in the fifth with Seth Gray crushing the first pitch from Cardinals starter Francisco Justo over the fence in right field.

For Gray, it was his fourth round-tripper of the season and raised his RBI total to 14.

“You always want to be aggressive with pitches early in the count,” Gray said. “If you get one you can do damage which that’s what good hitters do and I think we have done a really good job of that.

“The one I hit out was the first pitch and the ball Charlie hit out was first pitch. I think that’s been part of our success.”

Berroa looked sharp until the fourth frame giving up just one run. He struck out six and walked three in three innings of work before giving the ball to lefty Denny Bentley.

In the ninth frame, the Cards went with righthander Alex Gallegos but he walked the first three hitters he faced and he gave way to lefty Enrique Perez.

Perez struck out Albee Weiss on a nasty changeup but Mack delivered a grand slam home run on the first pitch he saw from Perez to tie the game at 12-12.

Mack finished 1-for-5 at the dish and is still below the Mendoza Line with a .197 average but drove in five runs which doubled his total to 10 for the season. The home run was his fourth of the season.

Manager Ray Smith talked about guys wanting to get their shot in tough situations after the game saying, “Some guys want to be that guy in those situations and some look to the other guy.

“Reuben has been that guy the last two nights. We just had the right guy up there at the right time.”

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E-Twins 13-12

Johnson City   001 803 000 0 – 12 11 1

Elizabethton    030 004 005 1 – 13 14 3

W – Cruz (1-0) L – Pereira (1-1)