Astros Nike RBI senior team walks off on wild slide for championship

VERO BEACH, Fla. – After Chase Lovick stole second base with two outs in the eighth inning, the Houston Astros Nike RBI senior team was one swing away from winning its first RBI World Series since 2010.

Vernon Clay, who was in his final game with the Astros, was at the plate. Clay hit a ground ball back up the middle for a base hit. Lovick sprinted around third and slid into home, avoiding the tag with a jump slide and scoring the game-winning run.

Clay’s RBI baseball career ended in the most dramatic of fashions, walking it off to give the Astros a 5-4 win in extra innings over the Atlanta Braves Nike RBI senior team on Friday night at the Jackie Robinson Training Complex in Vero Beach, Fla.

“It just means so much because [of] our coaches,” Clay said. “We have a lot of alumni who won the last RBI World Series here. It’s been a while but the drought is over in Houston. We brought it back.”

Clay went 3-for-4 with two RBIs and won the MLB Develops MVP. He’ll soon begin his collegiate career at Georgetown. Clay, 18, has been a part of the Astros’ RBI program since he was 13 and was unable to be with the team the previous two years in the RBI World Series.

“I’m just thankful to be with my teammates, MVP or not,” Clay said. “I’m so happy that we were able to pull it through because this wasn’t on me. We had big at-bats and big pitching performances by everybody on this team. It’s truly a blessing to be here with my team.”

The World Series championship was the first for Astros manager Daryl Wade. He took over the program in 2014.

Robert Robinson Jr. was 2-for-4 with a game-tying RBI ground-rule double in the seventh inning and Vincent Smith also went 2-for-4.

John Moya was the winning pitcher, pitching 2 2/3 innings and allowing one run. Jaden Barfield got the start and pitched 5 1/3 innings, allowing three runs (two earned).

The Braves received a stellar outing from Brandon Stephens, who played his final game with the program. The Coppin State signee pitched 5 2/3 innings and allowed three runs (two earned).

“Brandon came out and gave us a championship performance,” Braves manager Willie Slaton said. “He came out, did his job [and] definitely gave us a chance to win. He competed, battled his butt off. … He’s got a bright future in front of him.”

Clarence Callaway was 1-for-3 with an RBI for Atlanta.

The Braves jumped out to a 2-0 lead after a wild pitch in the second inning and throwing error in the fifth led to both of their runs.

Houston finally got on the board in the bottom of the fifth inning on a two-out RBI single from Clay. The Astros loaded the bases, but Stephens got out of the jam when Mauro Frassato grounded out to second base.

Atlanta added to its lead in the next half-inning on a sacrifice fly from Matthew Evans to make it 3-1. With one out and two runners on, a tailor-made double play on a hard-hit ball to second base resulted in the Braves recording only one out due to an errant throw by the shortstop on the turn that got away from the first baseman, which allowed Houston to cut the deficit to one.

A bloop single to left field by Brandon Lumkins Jr. tied the game at 3 as Patrick Lewis ran through the stop sign from the third-base coach to score with two outs in the bottom of the sixth.

Atlanta quickly stormed back, loading the bases with one out. LJ Estrada pinch hit, but Moya struck him out looking to move a pitch away from escaping the jam. Callaway hit a high chopper to shortstop and narrowly beat the throw at first base to give the Braves the lead again. Bruce Wyche flew out to left field to end the inning.

With two outs in the bottom of the seventh inning, the Astros had runners on first and third with two outs and Robinson at the plate. He smoked the first pitch he saw all the way to the warning track in center field for a ground-rule double to tie the game.

Braves pitcher Matthew Evans escaped the jam, getting Vincent Smith to fly out to left field to force extra innings.

Moya worked a clean top of the eighth inning. With two outs in the bottom half, Lovick singled to center field and stole second base with a 1-1 count to set the stage for Clay’s heroics.

“These guys believe in themselves,” Wade said. “They never got down in the dugout. We just believed we could catch a break and win the ballgame, and we did.”