From staff reports

Close, but no cigar.

After a nine-inning battle with the Princeton Rays Tuesday night at Joe O’Brien field, the Twins fell 7-6 in game one.

After six innings, the Twins were on top 6-4, but the Rays found the momentum to post three runs in the seventh and eighth innings to climb on top.

In the top of the seventh, the Rays’ Zacrey Law slammed a triple to centerfield, allowing teammate Peter Maris to scramble home, putting the score at 6-5 in favor of the Twins.

The eight inning would see the Rays’ Brett Sullivan scoring on a wild pitch by Twins pitcher Kuo Hua Lo, before the Rays’ David Rodriguez scored off a sacrifice fly by David Olmedo-Barrera to give Princeton the go-ahead run.

From the plate, the Twins connected for nine hits, after hitting 19 the night before in Burlington. The Rays finished the night with 11 hits.

For Elizabethton, both Manuel Guzman and Travis Blankerhorn went 2 of 4. Blankerhorn hit a home run, while recording two RBIs. The Twins’ Daniel Kihle was 1 of 2, while posting three runs. Chris Paul went 1 of 3, with three RBIs.

The Twins found the score board first, with Kihle scoring off a passed ball.

After both teams went scoreless in the second inning, the Rays posted their first run in the top of the third, with Angel Perez, after getting on base with a double, scoring during a sacrifice fly by his teammate Maris. The Twins answered in the bottom of the third, when Kihle scored off a ground single by the Twins’ Kamran Young.

After the Rays posted a run in the top fourth, the Twins threw up two runs in the fifth, before scoring two more in the sixth, when Blankerhorn blasted a two-run homer.

Rays pitcher Porter Clayton (1-0) recorded the win. Clayton came in to relieve Blake Bivens in the sixth inning and threw for two innings, during which he posted three strikeouts against zero walks, with two hits and two runs against.

The Twins’ Alexis Tapia opened up for the Elizabethton and threw for six innings. Tapia finished the night with four strikeouts, allowing seven hits and four runs. Anthony Mciver, after coming in for Tapia, threw for one, while striking out one hitter, with three hits and two runs against. Kuo Hua Lo closed the final two innings, during which he struck out one and walked one, while giving up one run and one hit.

The Twins moved to 12-14 on the season as the Princeton Rays improved to 16-10.

The two teams will continue their series today at 7 p.m. at Joe O’Brien Field.