Yankees Drop Third Straight Game in Extras

The Pulaski Yankees rallied from two down in the ninth inning for the second consecutive night, but dropped an 8-7 contest in 11 innings in front of 2,523 fans at Motor Mile Field at Calfee Park on Friday.

After a Carlos Narvaez single, Juan De Leon drove Narvaez home after a deep drive to left center field smacked off the outfield wall in the second inning. The hit marked Pulaski’s first triple of the season, De Leon’s second RBI in as many nights, and the third time in four games the Yankees drew first blood.
Luis Gil took the mound for the first time this season for Pulaski, and four of his first six men retired came via strikeout. After not allowing a hit in the first three innings, Greeneville posted a pair of runs in the fourth. With runners on second and third with two outs, Cash Cased drove in both runners with a base knock to center field.
Greeneville added a third run in the next inning courtesy of Zeke White’s speed. White reached on an infield single, stole second base, advanced to third on a sacrifice bunt, and scored on a fielding error by Nelson Gomez.
In the bottom half of the fifth, the Yankees pulled within a run on their first round-tripper of the 2018 season. On an 0-1 pitch, Everson Pereira bombed a solo homer beyond the left center field fence.
The Reds counter punched with three runs in the sixth inning, with two scoring on errors. All with two outs, White drove home his team’s fourth run, scoring Justin Bellinger on a flair to left field off the glove of a diving Jordan Scott. White and Juan Martinez later scored on Gomez’ second throwing error of the night, opening Greeneville’s advantage to 6-2. The play marked the first time this season Pulaski trailed by more than two runs in a game.
Gomez found redemption in the bottom half of the sixth with a solo home run on an 0-2 count off Aaron Quillen to pull Pulaski within three. Pulaski cut the deficit to two on back-to-backs hits to start the eighth frame. Jordan Scott doubled and Max Burt singled to put Pulaski within striking distance.
Austin Gardner made his Appalachian League debut in relief for the Pulaski Yankees, and retired the first nine batters he faced in the back three innings.
In the ninth inning, Pulaski dramatically came from behind to force extras for a third straight game. Furthermore, the Yankees rallied with two runs in the ninth to draw even for the second straight game. With Gomez on base, De Leon bombed a two-run homer down the left field line to send the Calfee Park crowd into a frenzy.
Into extra frames, the Reds took a 7-6 lead on the first pitch of the 11th inning. On a bunt by Juan Martinez back to the mound, pitcher Brett Morales over threw Gomez at third base to score a go-ahead unearned run. Miguel Hernandez later singled up the diamond to tack on an insurance run and score Martinez from second base. Everson Pereira scored on a wild pitch in the bottom half, but Pulaski could not find the equalizer and dropped the game, 8-7.
Pulaski fell in extras for a third consecutive game, dropping their record to 1-3. The Yankees return to Calfee Park today at 7 p.m. for the middle game of their three game series against the Reds. Tickets information is available on pulaskiyankees.net.