Becerra Caps Walk off Win for K-Mets over Bluefield
June 25, 2014 - Appalachian League (ApL)
Kingsport Axmen News Release
KINGSPORT, Tenn. (June 24, 2014) - The Kingsport Mets ended the first homestand of the 2014 Appalachian League season with their first walk-off victory. A Wuilmer Becerra single to right field capped a three-run comeback for Kingsport in the bottom of the ninth inning, as the K-Mets rallied to defeat the Bluefield Blue Jays 6-5 on Tuesday in the rubber game of their series.
Kingsport (3-3), which has won three of four, now hits the road for six straight before coming back home next Tuesday, July 1 against the Greeneville Astros in a rematch of last year's Appy League West Division playoff semifinal series.
The K-Mets fell behind before ever coming to bat for the third time this season; this time they fell into a 3-0 hole after three hits and a pair of errors in left field. Kingsport hung around, however, and staged its big rally to win the game.
Branden Kaupe led off with a walk, and a one-out single by slugging cleanup hitter Brandon Brosher chased Pulaski reliever Conor Fisk and brought Jays closer Chase Wellbrock onto the mound. Wellbrock tallied a strikeout, then Pedro Perez bashed a double to deep center field to score both runners and tie the game. Becerra followed with his winning single.
Kingsport won despite committing four errors, two in that first inning. Those miscues gave starter Andrew Massie some tough luck, but he recoered to allow just a single earned run on two hits over the remainder of a six-inning stint on the mound. Martires Arias (1-0) picked up the win in relief, yielding a single run over three frames of work.
K-METRICS: Brosher, the reigning Appalachian League Player of the Week, came in with a robust 1.638 slugging percentage. That dipped somewhat after he went 2-for-4 with a pair of singles, but Brosher also came close to adding to his league lead in home runs on a flyout to deep right field. He's now slugging a still-impressive 1.368 as Kingsport begins this road swing.
NOTES: Brosher, Perez, Becerra and catcher Miguel Leal each had two hits for Kingsport. This marked Leal's first start of the season. ... Kingsport left 11 men on base, and up until the hits by Perez and Becerra in the ninth, was 1-for-14 with runners in scoring position for the game. ... Pulaski cleanup hitter Rowdy Tellez had an unusual line, reaching base safely all four times and scoring three runs but only tallying a single official at-bat.
Appalachian League Stories from June 25, 2014
- Mariners Drop Series Opener at Bluefield - Pulaski Mariners
- Danville's Pitching No Match for Greeneville's Bats - Danville Otterbots
- Becerra Caps Walk off Win for K-Mets over Bluefield - Kingsport Axmen
- D-Braves Start Out Strong on Six Game Road Trip - Danville Otterbots
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