Gomon homers Twins to 4-3 victory

from staff reports

   BURLINGTON, N.C. -- Elizabethton first baseman Dusty Gomon hit his Appalachian League leading 10th home run in the fifth inning, a solo shot, to give the Twins a 4-3 win over Burlington on Tuesday night.
   Twins starter Scott Tyler (2-0) pitched five innings, allowing three hits, three runs, four walks and eight strikeouts for the win. He walked the bases loaded in the second inning but did not give up a run.
   The Indians (12-16) put runners at first and third base in the eighth inning as well, but ran themselves out of the inning versus Isaac Streich.
   Matt Whitney tried to move up to second base on a pitch in the dirt and was thrown out for the first out of the inning. After Clayton McCullough walked, he was doubled off first base when Jose Cruz hit a line drive at Felix Molina.
   The Twins got a run in the second inning on an RBI single by Daniel Marin.
   The Indians countered for their three runs in the third inning. They got an RBI grounder by McCullough that scored a second run when Gomon dropped the baseball at first base.
   Cruz followed with an RBI single to right field but was thrown out at second base trying to move up when Justin Sims dropped the ball momentarily in right field.
   The Twins tied the game in the fourth inning on an RBI single by Edgardo LeBron and an RBI force out off the bat of Inocencio Hiraldo. Gomon's homer in the fifth broke the tie.
   Burlington's Reid Casey (0-2), who played collegiately at ETSU, suffered the loss by giving up just the solo homer in 3 2-3 innings. He pitched well in defeat, recording four strikeouts against no walks.
   Elizabethton's Pat Neshek struck out the side in the ninth inning to earn his fifth save.
   The Twins have two more games in Burlington, today and Thursday at 7 p.m.