NFL, MLB, NHL, NBA, CFL stats



Kingsport Axmen

Home Runs Tell Tale in Braves Win

July 25, 2017 - Appalachian League (ApL)
Kingsport Axmen News Release


KINGSPORT, Tenn.- The long ball played a major role in Monday night's affair between the Kingsport Mets and the Danville Braves as the visitors reeled off a 10-inning win thanks to a three-run home run from Bradley Keller to silence the home crowd following a Jeremy Vasquez game-tying two-run home run in the bottom of the ninth inning as Danville outlasted Kingsport 7-4 at Hunter Wright Stadium.

Keller, who was hitless prior to the home run, came to the plate with two men on and two out in the top of the 10th inning and drilled a laser-shot home run out of the ballpark in left field to hand the visitors a lead of 7-4. The came just moments after Vasquez tied the ballgame at four-runs apiece in the bottom of the ninth inning with his seventh home run of the season.

Kingsport (12-18) has not lost three games in-a-row despite the come-from-behind effort that saw the home team trailing by four runs prior to the sixth inning.

The Braves (16-16) plated the first run of the ballgame in the top of the second inning when Leudys Baez doubled down the left field line with one gone to bring in Drew Lugbauer . The latter also doubled down the left field line to begin the inning, however, Kingsport starter, Christian James, settled down to strike out a batter to escape further trouble.

Danville led by an early run midway through two innings at the ballpark.

Not skipping a beat, the Braves were right back at it in the third by scoring two more runs off an RBI single from Riley Delgado and a sacrifice fly from William Contreras . James allowed the first three base runners to reach safely in the inning before finally gaining the first out via the long sacrifice fly from Contreras that just stayed inside the ballpark at the wall in left field.

An inning later, the double parade continued as Raysheandell Michel once again doubled down the left field line to bring in another run. The run-scoring hit that just barely stayed fair down the line brought in Baez who singled up the middle to begin the frame.

The Braves upped their lead midway through four innings to 4-0 over Kingsport.

Kingsport finally got on the board in the bottom of the sixth inning when Rigoberto Terrazas grounded in Raphael Gladu from third base. Jeremy Vasquez followed a batter later with an RBI single right up the middle which allowed Hansel Moreno to score easily from second base.

After six innings complete, Kingsport cut the deficit in half and trailed by two runs at 4-2.

The score remained the same until the bottom of the ninth inning when Vasquez launched the game-tying home run that drove in Terrazas to knot the game at four apiece. After tying the contest, Kingsport had an opportunity to walk-off a winner with the winning run at third base, however, Dan Hoy popped out in foul territory to create a 10th inning.

In the 10th, it was Keller's three-run game-winning home run that stole the show as the Mets were shutout in the bottom of the frame to drop their third-consecutive ballgame and the first of the three-game slate against the Braves.

Connor Simmons (1-0) tallied his first professional win on the night after pitching the final out of the ninth and the complete 10th inning. Ryan Selmer (0-1) takes home the hard-luck loss as the righty surrendered the three runs in the 10th, however, known were charged to him due to a fielding error prior to the blast.

James was roughed up for the first time on the year as the Kingsport starter tallied only five innings of work while surrendering four runs off seven hits. He did, however, rack up five strikeouts. Jasseel De La Cruz pitched a solid five innings in the start for Danville, surrendering only one earned run off five hits.

Both teams recorded 10 hits in the outing but the long ball was the story Monday night as Keller's three-run blast broke an 0-for-4, two strikeout day at the plate. Vasquez finished the day 2-for-5 at the plate with 3 RBIs.

Game 2 of the series is set to begin at 6:30 p.m. Tuesday night with Garrsion Bryant getting the start for Kingsport. Coverage can be found on the Kingsport Mets Baseball Network beginning at 6:15 p.m. with the Braeden's Barbeque Pregame Show with Eric Cain behind the microphone.

Check out the Kingsport Axmen Statistics

• Discuss this story on the Appalachian League message board...

Appalachian League Stories from July 25, 2017


The opinions expressed in this release are those of the organization issuing it, and do not necessarily reflect the thoughts or opinions of OurSports Central or its staff.

OurSports Central