By WAYNE PHILLIPS

Sports Editor

It was a much more entertaining ball game than in recent nights, but unfortunately for the Greeneville Astros, the end result was the same.

The Johnson City Cardinals completed an Appalachian League sweep of a three-game series Wednesday at Pioneer Park, sending the Astros to their fifth straight setback in a 10-7 slugfest victory.

Despite the loss, Greeneville finally showed some pop in their bats on offense, banging out their first two homers of the season. But a five-run ninth inning by Johnson City proved too much to overcome.

Greeneville now goes on the road to Danville for a three-game series beginning tonight. They return home on Sunday to take on the Princeton Rays for three games.

Wednesday's game was filled with some strange happenings. It was a see-saw affair, with the Astros taking the early lead, the Cards coming back to go 1-up, then the Astros rallying to regain the lead. But Greeneville couldn't match the 5-spot the visitors hung on the scoreboard in the ninth as they could manage only three runs in the home half of the final frame.

Second round draft choice Jay Austin, the 17-year old speedster out of Atlanta, broke out of a hitting slump in a big way, leading the Astros with three base hits and knocking in a run.

"It felt good coming out of a slump, but it doesn't mean much because we didn't win the game," Austin said.

Greeneville fans had already been treated to Austin's speed on defense in center field as he has often ran down balls that seemed to be out of reach for most fielders. On Wednesday, they got to see what he can do on the base paths. He amazingly beat out an infield hit in the fourth on a sharp one-hopper to second. The Cards' second sacker fielded the ball cleanly, but hesitated a moment before throwing, and that was all Austin needed.

"That felt good, being able to beat that out," he said. "We can't get our heads down (after being swept by the Cards). There's a long season ahead of us. The best thing about baseball is you have tomorrow to play."

Greeneville took the early lead in the first inning as Frank Almonte lofted a long fly to center that cleared the wall for the team's first homer of the season. Devon Torrence, who had reached on a walk, scored ahead of him for an early 2-0 lead.

Greeneville starter Jose Trinidad got out of a terrible jam in the second. Alex Castellanos was hit by a pitch before Curt Smith lined out a base hit to right. Castellanos was gunned down by Astros' right fielder Renzo Tello on a perfect throw to third base. Jack Cawley then reached on another hit, but Trinidad was able to retire the next two hitters.

But the Cards put together a big inning in the fourth to take a 3-2 lead. Three straight hits to open the inning accounted for two runs, with a single by Nico Vasquez, an RBI-triple by Castellanos and an RBI single by Smith, who had four hits in the game. Cawley reached on a fielder's choice and later scored the go-ahead run on a throwing error by third baseman Kyle Miller. He had fielded a bouncer by Travis Mitchell with the bases loaded and one out and tried to get the force at home, but the throw was high.

The Astros came right back in the bottom of the fourth to regain the lead. Tello walked and stole second. Ricardo Bonfante connected for a ground rule double, with the ball bouncing off the warning track in right and then clearning the wall. Tello scored on the play. Bonfante later scored when Jay Austin beat out the grounder to second base, and the Astros were up 4-3.

The score stayed that way until the top of the sixth when Johnson City got two runs with some strange things happening. Cawley reached on a double to start things. Edgar Lara was hit by a pitch. Jairo Martinez tried a sacrifice bunt, which was popped over a hard-charging first baseman Kody Hinze for a hit and the bases were loaded.

The Cardinals then botched a squeeze play, with Travis Mitchell taking a pitch as Cawley bolted from third base. He was caught in a rundown and tagged out at third. But Lara later scored on a wild pitch to tie the game, and Martinez scored on a sacrifice fly to deep center by Mitchell.

The 5-4 Johnson City lead stood up until the ninth, when the Cardinals erupted for five runs off Astros' reliever Zachary Grimmett. They put together five straight hits, capped off by a two-run triple by Castellanos and a long two-run homer by Smith.

But Greeneville didn't quit. In the bottom of the ninth, Austin lined a single to left with one out. Torrence went down looking for the second out, but Almonte drew a walk. Kody Hinze then unloaded a mammoth three-run blast to left that cleared the scoreboard before bouncing onto the walking track behind the stadium, a Mitch Einertson-type shot.

The Cards were able to get the third out and end the game without any more damage, completing the sweep of the first round of the "11-E Series."