Down by 5 runs, Astros prospects rally for walk-off Spring Breakout win

WEST PALM BEACH, Fla. -- The day started ugly enough for the Astros prospects participating in the annual Spring Breakout game Thursday afternoon against the Marlins. They made four errors in the first three innings -- including two by shortstop Xavier Neyens -- hit into a bases-loaded double play in the fourth and trailed by five runs.

“We made some mistakes early -- I made some mistakes early, but we got through it and kept battling and grinding and we pulled it out at the end,” said Neyens, the Astros’ No. 2-ranked prospect.

The Astros rallied for two runs in the seventh, eighth and ninth innings to pull out a dramatic 7-6 walk-off win over the Marlins' prospects at CACTI Park of the Palm Beaches, setting off the kind of celebration usually reserved for the regular season.

The winning run was scored by Juan Sierra, a 20-year-old Dominican prospect who raced home on a Caden Powell (No. 27 prospect) groundout to shortstop and made a crafty slide to avoid the glove of Marlins catcher Ryan Ignoffo, who thought he had made the tag.

The orange jerseys pouring out of the dugout in celebration thought differently.

“As soon as I saw the ball off the bat, I knew which way I wanted to go on the slide, and then I saw the catcher and made a move around,” Sierra said. “I had a ton of fun, and I love to play.”

If you think the Spring Breakout game didn’t mean anything to the Astros prospects, think again.

“It was the most fun I’ve had in a long time, probably since college,” said third baseman Nick Monistere, who was drafted in the fourth round in 2025 out of Southern Mississippi.

Monistere got the ninth-inning rally started by drawing one of his three walks (the Astros drew 18 walks), taking ball four on a pitch clock violation by Marlins prospect Cannon Pickell. Then it was Sierra who got the dugout energized with his at-bat. He took what was originally called a strike on a 1-1 pitch but immediately tapped his helmet to challenge the call, which was overturned.

“There was a lot of adrenaline,” Sierra said.

After fouling off the next pitch, a 98.2 mph heater, he did a Juan Soto-type shuffle in the batter’s box. Sierra eventually walked to put runners at first and second with no outs.

“He brought a little energy to the bench,” said Sam Niedorf, the Astros’ director of player development. “He’s a good player. He doesn’t get cheated. It’s a good approach with a lot of power, a 20-year-old outfielder and a guy that we’re really excited about.”

A single by German Rivera scored Monistere to tie the game and swung the momentum. With the infield in, Powell hit a sharp grounder to Marlins shortstop Andrew Salas, who backhanded the ball and threw home. Sierra stuck out his right hand to avoid the tag -- maybe. He was called safe and threw his helmet in the air and hugged Neyens, who was on deck.

“It wasn’t close,” Neyens said. “He was safe.”

Wladimir Sutil, the Astros’ Triple-A development coach who was managing the game, gathered the players in the clubhouse and congratulated them.

“They were having fun,” he said. “That’s the most important thing. I spoke to them early this morning and told them if they played the game the right way, good things are going to happen. We did it, OK? We battled all throughout the game until we got the win.”

Powell was chugging towards first base and didn’t see what happened at the plate, but he heard the dugout noise. The party was just getting started. This is a kid’s game, after all.

“It was a blast,” he said. “It was a lot of fun for all of us to finally get on the field together and play another great group of guys, and it was just a good time all the way around.”