Elizabethton Elucidation

The E-Twins are 10-1, first in the AL West, three games ahead of Johnson City.

Saturday

A six-run first carried Elizabethton to an 8-3 victory over the Pulaski Mariners in Elizabethton. Derek McCallum opened the inning with a walk; a Christopher Herrmann single and a walk to Tyler Ladendorf loaded the bases. Michael Gonzales singled in two, a walk to Tobias Streich re-loaded the bases, and Josmil Pinto unloaded them with a grand slam. The Mariners tried to battle back, scoring a single run in the third on a home run, another in the fourth on a walk and two singles, and a third in the fifth on another home run, cutting the lead to 6-3. In the bottom of the fifth, however, Reggie Williams singled and Herbert Lara hit a two-run homer to put the game away. Williams had two hits and Pinto, of course, drove in four runs. Angelo Sanchez got the win, giving up three runs on five hits in five innings and striking out seven. Brad Stillings pitched two scoreless innings of relief and Kyle Carr and Billy Bullock each pitched one scoreless inning.

Sunday

The Twins suffered their first defeat, falling to Pulaski 9-6.  Elizabethton scored first, getting two in the second inning on a double by Daniel Rams and a home run by Tobias Streich.  The Mariners took the lead with three fourth-inning runs, getting a single and two homers to go ahead 3-2.  Two singles and an error put Pulaski up 4-2 in the top of the fifth, but the Twins came back in the bottom of the fifth:  Jonathan Goncalves singled, Reggie Williams reached on an error, Tyler Ladendorf walked, and a Daniel Rams grand slam gave Elizabethton a 6-4 lead.  They couldn't hold it, however, as the Twins walked in a Mariner run in the sixth and allowed the tying run to score in the seventh on a passed ball.  Pulaski scored three times in the eighth to take a 9-6 lead, getting a single, a double, a walk, and two more singles.  The Twins only got one hit after the fifth inning.  Goncalves and Rams each had two hits, with Rams driving in four runs.  Tom Stuifbergen pitched five innings, giving up four runs (three earned) on six hits.  Ramon Acosta pitched a scoreless inning of relief.  Tony Davis took the loss.

Monday

Elizabethton got back on the winning track, defeating the Bristol White Sox 11-5 in Elizabethton.  Bristol scored three times in the first inning on two singles, a walk, and a bases-clearing double.  The Twins got one back in the bottom of the first on consecutive doubles by Chris Herrmann and Tyler Ladendorf.  Elizabethton took a 4-3 lead in the third when Herrmann again doubled, Michael Gonzales singled, and Daniel Rams hit a three-run homer.  A Herrmann homer in the fourth made the score 5-3.  The Twins took a commanding 8-3 lead in the fifth on singles by Anderson Hidalgo and Jonathan Goncalves, a Derek McCallum double, and a single by Herrmann.  The teams traded runs in the sixth, with Bristol getting a single and a double and Elizabethton scoring on doubles by Gonzales and Hidalgo.  The White Sox got one more in the eighth on a double, a single, and a wild pitch, but the Twins finished things off with two more runs:  Rams hit his second homer of the game, Hidalgo walked, Herbert Lara singled, Goncalves walked, and a wild pitch scored Hidalgo.  Herrmann had four hits (two doubles, a homer, and a single) and scored three times.  Ladendorf, Hidalgo, and Lara each had three hits.  Gonzales and Rams each had two hits, with Rams driving in four runs with his two homers.  Liam Hendriks got the win, giving up four runs on eight hits in six innings.  Billy Bullock pitched a scoreless inning of relief.

Tuesday

The Twins blew a 6-4 lead, but came back to win 8-7 over Bristol.  Fence posts were the order of the day, with each team having four one-run innings, and neither team scoring more than one in an inning until the eighth.  The White Sox scored one in the first when Elizabethton starter Martire Garcia issued four consecutive walks.  The Twins tied it in the second on a Josmil Pinto homer.  Each team scored in the third:  Bristol got a two-base error and a single, and Elizabethton got a home run by Derek McCallum.  The White Sox took a 3-2 lead in the fourth on a walk, a single, and a sacrifice fly, and increased the lead to 4-2 in the fifth with a solo homer of their own. The Twins cut the lead to 4-3 in the bottom of the fifth on a Reggie Williams homer, the third Elizabethton solo shot of the day.  The score was tied in the sixth when, with two out, Tobias Streich doubled, went to third on a wild pitch, and scored on Pinto's single.  The Twins took a 6-4 lead in the eighth on a walk to Tyler Ladendorf and a two-run homer by Daniel Rams, the Twins fourth homer of the game.  Bristol came back in the ninth, however.  A hit batsman and a stolen base/throwing error made the score 6-5.  A single, a wild pitch, a single-and-two-base-error, and a sacrifice fly produced two more White Sox runs and gave Bristol a 7-6 lead.  The first two Elizabethton batters were retired in the bottom of the ninth, but then McCallum and Chris Herrmann singled, and a two-base error tied the score.  Rams was intentionally walked to load the bases, and Streich reached on an error to score the winning run.  Pinto had three hits and McCallum two.  Garcia pitched only two innings, giving up one run on one hit and six walks.  Edgar Ibarra was the only reliever to go unscored upon, pitching 1.2 innings.  Billy Bullock got the win.

Wednesday

A pair of big innings gave Elizabethton an 8-3 victory over Bristol.  The Twins took a 3-0 lead in the third when Derek McCallum walked, Chris Herrmann singled, and Tyler Ladendorf hit a three-run homer.  The White Sox got a solo homer in the fifth to make it 3-1, but Elizabethton struck for five in the seventh:  McCallum singled and Ladendorf doubled to produce one run, an error put runners on first and third, a wild pitch scored a second run, walks to Paul-Michael Klingsberg and Anderson Hidalgo loaded the bases, another wild pitch scored a third run, and Daniel Rohlfing tripled to score two more and put the Twins ahead 8-1. Bristol scored two in the ninth on two singles, a walk, and a pair of ground outs to make the final score look a little better.  Ladendorf had three hits and drove in four runs, and McCallum had two hits.  Miguel Munoz got the win, giving up a run on five hits in 5.2 innings.  Kyle Carr pitched 2.1 scoreless innings of relief.

Thursday

A seven-run second boosted Elizabethton to a 12-4 victory over the Greeneville Astros.  The Twins scored in the first when Tyler Ladendorf doubled, took third on an error, and scored on a wild pitch.  The Twins' big second inning was bookended by home runs:  Josmil Pinto led off with a homer, Daniel Rohlfing, Reggie Williams, and Jonathan Goncalves all singled to score a run, a Chris Herrmann sacrifice fly brought in another run, a walk to Anderson Hidalgo and a Ladendorf double brought in one more run, and Daniel Rams hit a three-run homer to close out the inning and give Elizabethton an 8-0 lead.  Greeneville scored a single run in the second when two singles sandwiched a double, and another in the fourth on a single and a double, but the Twins crushed any hopes of a comeback in the sixth, when Hidalgo and Rams singled and Tobias Streich hit a three-run homer to make the score 11-2.  The last scoring of the game came in the eighth:  Elizabethton scored once when Herrmann doubled, went to third on a wild pitch, and scored on a ground out, and the Astros got a walk, an error, and a double to make the final score a little closer.  Ladendorf and Rams each had three hits, Williams had two, and Rams and Striech each drove in three runs.  Angelo Sanchez got the win, giving up two runs on six hits in six innings and striking out six.  Tony Davis pitched a scoreless inning of relief.

Friday

Elizabethton kept winning, defeating Greeneville 7-5.  Chris Herrmann doubled and scored in the first inning to put the Twins up 1-0.  The Astros tied it in the third on a home run.  Elizabethton took a 2-1 lead in the fourth when Tyler Ladendorf singled, took third on a Michael Gonzales single, and scored on Josmil Pinto's sacrifice fly.  They scored on again in the fifth when Anderson Hidalgo walked, took third on a Herbert Lara single, and scored on a wild pitch.  A three-run sixth seemed to put the Twins in control:  Daniel Rams singled, an error put runners on first and second, a Pinto triple scored two, and Lara's single put Elizabethton ahead 6-1.  Greeneville came right back with a two-out rally in the bottom of the sixth, however, getting two singles, a walk, and a bases-clearing double to make the score 6-4.  The comeback continued in the seventh, as a solo homer cut the lead to 6-5.  The Astros never got another runner past first, however, and a ninth-inning homer by Jonathan Goncalves gave the Twins all the insurance they needed.  Lara had two hits and Pinto drove in three runs.  Tom Stuifbergen got the win, giving up four runs on nine hits in six innings.   Billy Bullock pitched 1.1 scoreless innings to get a save.

Statistical notes:  The Twins have scored 94 runs, 27 more than any other team.  They are first in doubles, tied for sixth in triples, and first in home runs (20--the next highest is 15).  They are second in walks and tenth (last) in stolen bases.  They are second in OBP, first in SLG (.538--second is .466), first in AVG, and first in OPS.

Twins pitchers are third in ERA, second in fewest hits allowed, sixth in fewest home runs allowed, and tied for fifth in fewest walks allowed.  They are tied for first in strikeouts and first in WHIP.

Tyler Ladendorf is tied for first in games (11), tied for first in runs (13), tied for second in hits (18), tied for second in doubles (5), tied for fifth in home runs (3), second in RBIs (14), third in total bases (32), tied for second in walks (8), second in OBP (.519), tied for fourth in AVG (.429), and third in OPS (1.281).  Daniel Rams is tied for first in runs (13), first in home runs (5), first in RBIs (18), first in total bases (37), first in SLG (.949), and second in OPS (1.449).  Chris Herrmann is tied for third in runs (11), tied for second in doubles (5), and tied for fifth in walks (7).  Josmil Pinto is tied for second in home runs (4), tied for third in RBIs (13), and tied for fourth in SLG (.767).  Angelo Sanchez is tied for first in wins (2).  Tom Stuifbergen is tied for first in wins (2), tied for first in starts (3), tied for first in innings (17), tied for first in most hits allowed (19), and first in strikeouts (20).  Billy Bullock is tied for first in games (5).  Kyle Carr is tied for first in games (5), tied for third in strikeouts (15 in ten innings), and third in WHIP (0.70).

Notes:  Tuesday's game featured five errors and ten walks.  Twins manager Ray Smith called it "Appalachian League baseball at its finest."