Kingsport 3, Greeneville 0
Kingsport 4, Greeneville 1
After getting swept in a three-game series at Greeneville last month, the Kingsport Mets nearly settled the score in one night’s work.
The K-Mets swept their home doubleheader over the Astros Sunday at Hunter Wright Stadium. Kingsport logged a 3-0 shutout in the first game, then dispatched Greeneville by a 4-1 margin in the nightcap.
In game one, all the scoring came in the first inning. The first run crossed the plate courtesy of a towering fly ball triple by Amed Rosario. Rosario crushed the offering from Enderson Franco to straightaway center. Brett Phillips tried to chase it down, but couldn’t make the catch. Champ Stuart scored on the triple, and Rosario scored on a first-pitch single by Victor Cruzado.
There was some great work by Carlos Gomez (2-0), the Mets’ starting pitcher in the opening game. Gomez carried a two-hit shutout into the sixth, and then tired, walking the first two men he faced. He left with two outs and Kingsport’s 2-0 lead intact. Alberto Baldonado preserved the lead. Though he walked his first batter, he fanned Bobby Borchering to keep the Astros scoreless and leave the bases loaded. Gomez has not allowed a run, earned or otherwise, in three appearances totaling 17 1/3 innings of work.
Ricardo Jacquez worked a perfect ninth to tally his second save of 2013.
Kingsport, which posted its first shutout win, could have won the game by an even larger margin. The K-Mets stranded 10 runners, leaving the bases loaded twice. The Mets had five hits in game one, scattered among five different sources.
Kingsport struck fast in the nightcap as well, plating three runs on three hits and an error. Two of the base hits didn’t leave the infield, and the K-Mets also benefited from the hustle of Jeff McNeil, who reached on a bunt single and beat a force throw at second base. The big blow was a defensive miscue with Adrian Abreu‘s grounder bouncing off the glove of Greeneville shortstop Juan Santana to left field. Two runners scored on the play.
Chase McDonald put the Astros on the board with a second-inning home run to left, but Kingsport enjoyed a longball of its own with Victor Cruzado slugging a no-doubt homer over the wall in right in the third.
Chris Flexen enjoyed a nice bounceback performance, allowing the one run on McDonald’s homer during a six-inning stint on the mound. Flexen scattered four hits and two walks in a marked improvement over his last outing, where three of the first six batters he faced clouted home runs.
McNeil and Cruzado had two hits apiece for Kingsport in the nightcap. Cruzado clouted his first home run of the Appalachian League season, and Robert Coles worked a scoreless seventh to tally his second save.
Key Stats
Carlos Gomez: 5.2 IP, 2 H, 3 BB, 0 ER, 3 K
Ricardo Jacquez: 1.0 IP, 0 H, 0 BB, 0 K
Chris Flexen: 6.0 IP, 4 H, 1 HR, 2 BB, 1 ER, 2 K
Robert Coles: 1.0 IP, 1 H, 1 BB, 0 K
Amed Rosario: 1-for-3, 1 3B, 1 BB, 1 RBI, 1 R
Victor Cruzado: 3-for-7, 1 2B, 1 HR, 2 RBI, 1 R
(Team Report)