It’s suddenly do-or-die time for the defending Appalachian League champs.
The Danville Braves scored six unanswered runs in a 6-3 victory Wednesday night over the Johnson City Cardinals in the opening game of their best-of-three semifinal series.
The Cardinals, who went 4-0 in the 2010 playoffs on the way to their first Appy League title since 1976, managed just one hit after jumping out to a 3-0 lead in the top of the first inning.
After the shaky opening frame, Braves starter J.R. Graham ended up pitching into the eighth inning, striking out 10.
Each of the first four batters in the Danville lineup had two hits.
Will Skinner went 0-for-4 but recorded the go-ahead RBI for the Braves in the bottom of the sixth with a groundout that scored Kyle Kubitza.
The Cardinals had no extra-base hits, with Tyler Rahmatulla recording the only two-hit game for the West Division champs.
The series resumes tonight in Johnson City for Game 2.
Bluefield 11, Elizabethton 3
Art Charles and Kevin Pillar each had three hits as the Bluefield Blue Jays blasted the Elizabethton Twins in Game 1 of the Appalachian League semifinal series.
Chris Hawkins added four RBIs for the Jays as they pounded out 13 hits and took advantage of four Elizabethton errors.
Manager Dennis Homberg’s team also knocked around Elizabethton’s Tim Shibuya, the Appy League’s pitcher of the year. Shibuya allowed eight runs (four earned) on 10 hits over 5 2/3 innings. He walked one and struck out three in losing for the first time since August 5.
Bluefield scored three runs in the first inning and never looked back.
Tyler Ybarra pitched 5 1/3 adequate innings to pick up the win on the Bluefield.
Elizabethton plays the Blue Jays again tonight and with a loss could fail to make the Appy League Championship Series for the first time since 2004.
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