ApL Kingsport Axmen

K-Mets Split Double Header with Cardinals

Published on July 7, 2016 under Appalachian League (ApL)
Kingsport Axmen News Release


Greeneville, Tenn.- The Kingsport Mets dominated the night cap of Thursday's double header against the Johnson City Cardinals to split the day's action at a win apiece following Wednesday night's rainout. Game 1 saw the Cardinals win in shutout fashion, 5-0, before dropping Game 2, 6-1 to conclude the busy day at Hunter Wright Stadium.

Game 1: Johnson City 5, Kingsport 0

The Johnson City Cardinals (9-6) began the twin billing with a 5-0 win to start the day. A big day from Carlos Lopes at the bottom of the Cardinal lineup propelled the club to spark a two-run fifth inning to score the first runs of the contest. Johnson City would go on to score two more in the sixth and another in the seventh to end the contest with five runs.

After sitting every Cardinal down in order the first time through the lineup, Kingsport (5-10) starting pitcher Jake Simon (0-3) ran into some trouble in the fifth inning. After striking out Joshua Lopez to begin the frame, Santo Marte committed an error while trying out throw out Luis Bandes at first base a few batters later.

Jonathan Rivera would then take a four-pitch walk to first base to put two men on with two away. Lopes would come up and deliver the hit of the game when taking an 0-1 fastball to opposite-right field. The bloop-double off the bat of Lopes landed a few feet to the left of the foul ball line in right field. Both Bandes and Rivera crossed home plate making the score 2-0 midway through the fifth.

Johnson City would send two more across the plate in the inning that followed as both Allen Cordoba and Bryce Denton walked to put two Cardinals on with no outs. Andrew Knizner would then single in Cordoba with a base-hit to right field. A batter later, Lopez would ground into a 6-4-3 double play to score Denton from third base.

One more run would cross the plate in the Cardinal victory in Game 1. Mathew Fielder would lead off the inning with a single to centerfield but would then advance an extra 90 feet to second base when Ricardo Cespedes misplayed the ball on the hop, allowing it to go about six feet behind him towards the wall.

Rivera would then single to put runners at the corners with no outs for Lopes once again. This time, the second baseman would only manage a sacrifice fly out to Jose Medina in right field. The score was the third RBI on the day for Lopes as the Cardinals won 5-0.

Simon was tagged with the loss for Kingsport after pitching five-plus innings of three-hit baseball. The lefty gave up four runs, though only three were earned, while striking out six and walking three. Jordan Hicks (2-0) picked up the win for the Cardinals after going six innings strong of three-hit baseball as well. The right hander did not allow a run in the shutout win and also tallied one strikeout.

All five of Kingsport's hits during the loss were singles and two runners were thrown out on the base paths trying to steal.

In-between games, fans had the opportunity to at attend the Joe Lasher Jr. concert that was held just inside the gates of Hunter Wright Stadium. Lasher Jr. and his band performed for 50 minutes while the field and game officials prepared for the second contest of the day.

Game 2: Kingsport 6, Johnson City 1

Kingsport picked up win No. 6 on the young season thanks to a 12-hit game from an offense that scored six runs on the night, including a run in each of the final three innings of game 2. Four of the hits were for extra-bases as the club tallied two triples and two doubles in the night cap.

A three-run second inning kicked things off offensively for the K-Mets who were shutout in game 1 of the double header. Jeremy Wolf doubled to begin the frame and Jose Medina followed suit reaching first base on an error from Yariel Gonzalez at third base.

Franklin Correa would then come through with a two-run triple to plate both Wolf and Medina, who hustled all the way around from first base. A batter later, Anthony Dimino would groundout to second base-scoring Correa from 90 feet away to enable the three-run lead after two innings.

Johnson City would gain a run back in the half inning that followed as J.R. Davis singled to begin the frame. Davis would the steal second and third on consecutive pitches a batter later and the throw down to third base from Dimino behind the plate sailed into left field to allow Davis to come around and score the first and only run of the game for the Cardinals.

Kingsport would then tally a run in each of the final three innings of the contest to cap off the night. In the fourth inning, Dimino would score on an RBI triple from Raphael Ramirez, his second run batted in on the season, to take a 4-1 lead. An inning later, Cespedes would come around and score on an RBI double from Jose Maria, on what was the fourth extra-base hit on the night for Kingsport.

The K-Mets would tack on one final run in the contest in the bottom of the sixth inning when Ramirez brought Correa home on an RBI fielder's choice. Ramirez finished the contest 1-for-2 with a triple and two RBIs from the ninth spot in the order.

Kingsport skipper Luis Rivera plans to utilize a six-man starting rotation for the rest of the season with the hopes of Chris Viall making the transition successfully. The 2016 sixth round selection out of Stanford started the contest with hopes of stretching out to three innings.

The right hander did just that by going three innings of three-hit baseball and three strikeouts. Colin Holderman came on to pitch a scoreless fourth inning before giving way to Kingsport's usual No. 5 starter, Adonis Uceta (1-2), for the final three innings of scoreless baseball.

Uceta picked up the win in relief to tally his first win of the 2016 season. He and Viall will continue to split the next start or two until the latter is deemed ready to start.

Frederis Parra (0-2) was charged with the loss after starting the game and pitching four innings of four run baseball, three earned, while yielding seven hits and six strikeouts.

Eight of the nine batters that started the game for Kingsport recorded at least one hit in the game while Cespedes, Wolf, Correa and Dimino each tallied two hits apiece.

Game 3 of the series between the Kingsport Mets and the Johnson City Cardinals will take place Friday evening at 7 p.m. The gates of Hunter Wright Stadium will begin opening at 6 p.m. and a live broadcast of the game can be found at kmets.com or on the Tune In application as Eric Cain will bring the play-by-play action. This story was not subject to the approval of the National Association of Professional Baseball Leagues or its clubs.

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Appalachian League Stories from July 7, 2016


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