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ApL Kingsport Axmen

Ninth Inning Rally Not Enough as K-Mets Hold Off

July 20, 2016 - Appalachian League (ApL)
Kingsport Axmen News Release


ELIZABETHTON, Tenn.--- For the second-consecutive night, the Elizabethton Twins positioned themselves to walk-off with a win in the bottom in the ninth inning, however, Kingsport was able to hold on long enough to preserve the 6-5 win over the E-Twins Wednesday night at Joe O'Brien Stadium.

As was the story from Tuesday evening, Elizabethton (10-16) utilized late-inning rallies to climb its way back into the contest. The E-Twins scored four runs in the final two innings and came as close as having the tying run 90 feet away from home plate.

The rally started in the bottom of the eighth inning when Elizabethton was training Kingsport (12-14) by five runs at 6-1.

After Brandon Lopez led off the frame with a single, he then advanced to second base on a fielding error from K-Mets' second baseman Walter Rasquin a batter later. With runners at first and second base, Alex Kirilloff came to the plate and grounded a ball to Cecillio Aybar at short stop. Aybar stepped on the second base bag for one out and then airmailed a throw past Jose Maria at first base while attempting a double play.

The throwing error cost Kingsport another run as both base runners were assessed another base-allowing Lopez to score the second run of the game for Elizabethton.

Lewin Diaz would then follow the sloppy defensive play with a two-run home run over the right field wall, his fourth round-tripper of the season, bringing the score to only a two-run deficit at 6-4 with Kingsport leading after eight innings.

In the bottom of the ninth inning, Adrian Almeida would stay in the game to try and slam the door shut and got off to a good start in doing so by striking out Andre Jernigan who came on as a pinch-hitter to lead off the inning. Almeida would then hit Caleb Hamilton on the left foot on a 1-1 pitch that was low and inside to put a runner at first base with only one out.

Almeida would then strikeout Luis Martinez a batter later to force the E-Twins down to their final out in consecutive games.

Lopez would come back to the plate and taka a full-count six-pitch walk to first base, putting the tying run on base. A single by Travis Blankenhorne to shallow left field would then bring home Hamilton from second base and put Lopez all the way to third base.

With the E-Twins' deficit only being at a run at 6-5, and the tying run standing on third base, Almeida fired a 2-2 pitch passed Kirilloff to end the game by finally striking out the side.

The 6-5 Kingsport win in Game 2 of the three-game series with Elizabethton was the first win of the season over the E-Twins who had previously beaten the K-Mets in the first four games the two squads have competed in on the year.

Prior to the late inning drama, Elizabethton took an early 1-0 lead over the K-Mets and starting pitcher Chris Viall. An RBI groundout from Diaz plated Lopez from third base and the E-Twins had an early advantage after the first inning of play.

Kingsport would answer back immediately in the following inning on one of the rarest plays one will ever see in baseball. Following consecutive one-out singles from William Barring and Aybar, Rafael Ramirez drove a ball deep into right-center field, over the glove from the outstretched arm of Martinez who was attempting to chase the ball down in the ally way.

The drive scored both Barring and Aybar easily but Ramirez kept running and narrowly slid under a tag at the plate to record a three-run go-ahead home run in the bottom of the second inning. After the play, the score was now 3-1 in favor of Kingsport.

In the fourth inning, the K-Mets tacked on two more runs following a wild pitch from Elizabethton starter, Domenick Carlini (1-4), allowing Aybar to cross home plate. Another run would score on an RBI groundout from Rasquin and Kingsport's lead then grew to five runs.

A final run on the night for the K-Mets would score in the eighth inning. Patrick McGuff was summoned to come out of the bullpen for the home team and face Reed Gamache with runners at the corners. Before the pitcher threw his first pitch of the outing, a failed pickoff attempt that sailed over Diaz's glove and out of play at first base allowed Barring to trot in from third base to score.

The win in Game 2 for Kingsport keeps the potential alive for the club to win its fourth-consecutive series as the rubber match will be played Thursday evening, beginning at 7 p.m.

Both starters were chased from the contest pretty early as Carlini was charged with the loss for the E-Twins after going only 3.2 innings of three earned-run ball. The left-hander yielded seven hits but struck out six K-Mets during the outing.

Viall was pulled from the contest with one away in the fifth inning. The righty's 4.1 innings pitched was not enough to qualify the starter for a win, but Viall pitched solid in what was only his third start of the season. The Mets' 6th Round pick from the 2016 June Armature Draft gave up only one earned-run on three hits while tallying eight strikeouts in the start.

Viall was limited to around 70 pitches on the night as the hurler is still in the process of stretching out his arm to perform in the starting rotation after beginning the season in the bullpen.

Jose Carlos Medina (1-0) picked up his first win of the season in relief of Viall after tossing 2.2 innings of one-hit baseball. The southpaw did not allow a run during the outing and also sat down four batters via strikeouts.

Ramirez was the offensive hero on the night for Kingsport after churning in a 2-for-4 night at the plate with an inside-the-park home run, three RBIs and two runs scored. Dionis Rodriguez and Rasquin also tallied two hits in the win.

The rubber match between the Kingsport Mets and the Elizabethton Twins is set for Thursday evening at 7 p.m. from Joe O'Brien Field. A live broadcast can be found at kmets.com or on the TuneIn application beginning at 6:45 p.m. with Eric Cain for the Kingsport Mets Baseball Pregame Show. This story was not subject to the approval of the National Association of Professional Baseball Leagues or its clubs.

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