Rays rally for win over E-Twins
Published 10:38 pm Tuesday, July 4, 2017
Star Photo/Bryce Phillips Twins second baseman Jose Miranda tags a runner out at second during Tuesday's game against Princeton at Joe O'Brien Field.
Star Photo/Bryce Phillips A young baseball fan partakes in some between-innings fun Tueday.
Star Photo/Bryce Phillips The stands were packed Tuesday night as the Twins took on Priceton at Joe O'Brien Field.
Star Photo/Bryce Phillips Twins fans came alive as Rocky Top filled Joe O'Brien Field.
Star Photo/Bryce Phillips Twins fans sing along with Rocky Top during Tuesday's contest.
The anticipated fireworks on the Fourth of July came late and broke up a pitching duel as Princeton struck for three eighth-inning runs in a 6-2 win over the Elizabethton Twins at Joe O’Brien Field.
Elizabethton (8-5) struck for a run in the second on a double by third baseman Andrew Bechtold and an RBI single to rightfield by catcher Andrew Cosgrove for a 1-0 Twins lead. The Twins missed a scoring opportunity in the fourth after a double by Matt Albanese and a single by Wander Javier to put runners at the corners with no outs.
Shane Carrier hit a bouncer to third baseman Bridgman who fired to second to force Javier. Albanese attempted to score on the play but second baseman Trey Hair fired to the plate to nail Albanese for the double play.
Huascar Ynoa got the start for the Twins and pitched well over his five full innings of work, getting out of trouble in the second and fifth frames. In the fifth Bryce Brown opened with a single, stole second with one out and went to third when Cosgrove’s throw sailed into centerfield putting Brown on third.
Ynoa then struck out Bridgman and retired Mac Siebert on a grounder to first to keep Betsy on top 1-0. Twins second baseman Jose Miranda put a charge in an offering by Rays starter Dylan Thompson to lead off the fifth and drove it over the fence in left centerfield to give the Twins a 2-0 lead.
“We had a few hard hit balls early,” Twins manager Ray Smith said. “We squared up a couple balls, but hit it right to them. Then you get a few broken bat hits and they all count the same. You have to play the game and trust the process.”
An infield error by Bechtold helped Princeton (5-8) score a run in the sixth against Twins reliever Bryan Sammons. Zach Rutherford reached on the miscue and moved to third on a double by designated hitter Ronaldo Hernandez and scored on a ground ball by Davis.
In the top of the eighth Blair Lakso came on and was greeted by a single from Siebert. One out later Siebert stole second and went to this on the second throwing error from Cosgrove. Rutherford drew a walk and Hernandez singled home the tying run and with two away Hair delivered a two-run double to give the Rays a 4-2 lead.
Brown then singled Hair home and Princeton led 5-2 and Lakso (0-1, 6.75) was done for the night.
“Lakso was so good in Kingsport,” Smith said. “They didn’t touch him, and you will have nights like that. Of course the mound didn’t help, but both teams had to play in the same conditions. We had a 2-1 lead and had it set up with Sammons coming in and who knows next time out might be a different story.”
Princeton
Princeton 000 001 041 – 6 11 0
E-Twins 010 010 000 – 2 8 3
W – Moncada L – Lakso
