Saturday: Elizabethton 5 at Kingsport 3
W: B. Lanigan (4-3, 3.74); L: G. Leduc (2-3, 5.27); SV: M. Hamburger (7)
HR: ELI: E. Bigley (9). KNG: J. Garber (1).
Bobby Lanigan worked 7 innings allowing 3 runs on 8 hits while fanning four to help the Elizabethton Twins to a 5-3 win over the Kingsport Mets.
The Twins took a liking to Mets starter Oscar Melendez. Nick Romero singled to lead off the Twins attack in the top of the 1st. Jon Waltenbury would reach on a fielding error by Kyle Suire and Evan Bigley singled out to left to score Romero for an early Twins lead.
Danny Rams would strike out, but would make it to first anyway on a wild pitch by Melendez. After Severino ground out, moving Rams to 2nd, Angel Morales would be plunked with a pitch. James Beresford then doubled in the pair of runners to make it 3-0 Twins.
The bottom of the 3rd would see Justin Garber go yard off Lanigan over the center field fence to give the K-Mets a run.
Waltenbury would double in the top of the fifth and Evan Bigley would take a walk, before Jorge Rodriguez came in to replace Melendez. Michael Harrington singled out to right to load up the bags, but Rams and Adan Severino would both go down on strikes to strand the runners.
Rodriguez would be replaced by Guillaume Leduc in the top of the sixth, but despite a Beresford single and a Dominic De La Osa double, the Twins would still come up empty.
With one out on the board in the bottom of the sixth, Doug McNulty would triple off Lanigan. Singles to Stefan Welch, Pedro Zapata and Michael Moras would score both McNulty and Welch to tie up the game before Jean Luc Blaquiere and Justin Garber would get called out on strikes.
It would not stay tied long however as Evan Bigly put a solo-shot home run over the left field fence in the top of the seventh to put the E-Twins on top again.
In the top of the ninth, Nick Romero singled and moved to second on a wild pitch. Waltenbury's fly out saw him to 3rd, and Bigley would sacrifice him in for the insurance run.
Mark Hamburger would allow a single to Moras in the bottom of the ninth, but got Blaquiere out on strikes, took Garber down on a line out and finished the game on a Rafael Fernandez fly out.
Bigley would end up 2-for-2 with a pair of walks, a run and 3 RBIs. Beresford was 2-for-3 with a double and a RBI, while Romero was 2-for-2 with a pair of runs. De La Osa (1-for-5) and Waltenbury (1-for-4) both added doubles, while Harrington chipped in a single to become the one hit wonder of the game.
Despite being O-fer at the plate, Rams (0-for-4) and Morales (0-for-3) both had runs in the contest.
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Sunday: Elizabethton 14 at Kingsport 9
W: D. Berlind (2-2, 11.83); L: M. Alvarez (0-4, 8.82)
HR: KNG: K. Suire (5).
It was only a matter of time, but Danny Berlind was finally moved back to the bullpen. He would pick up the win Sunday in 1.1 innings of relief however, allowing only 2 hits and striking out 2 as the Elizabethton Twins won a slug fest against the Kingsport Mets.
Elizabethton opened the scoring with Nick Romero taking a single off K-Mets starter Colin McHugh. Jon Waltenbury's fly ball single moved him to 2nd and following a fly out to Evan Bigley, Jeff Lanning doubled the pair in.
Kingsport answered back however when Brad Tippett plunked Kyle Suire with a pitch. Suire would move to 2nd on Wilmer Flores line drive and score on a fielding error by Elizabethton's Dominic De La Osa at second.
Adan Severino singled in the top of the 2nd, then stole second base. Angel Morales singled, but James Beresford hit into a force out that took Morales down at second. With men at the corners, De La Osa would knock a line drive to right to plate Severnio. Romero's grounder to right drove in Beresford before Waltenbury took a walk to load the bags. Bigley singled in De La Osa, but Lanning would line out and Alex Soto ground out to strand the remaining runners.
A fielding error by Romero allowed Michael Moras to reach and Tippett would walk Gabriel Zavala. After Imbewer Alvarez was called out on strikes, Justin Garber would reach on a throwing error by Romero that scored Moras, and Rafael Fernandez singled in Zavala. Suire then put this fifth home run of the season over the right field wall to add 3 more to the K-Mets total, making the score 6-5 Kingsport after two.
The Twins tied it up in the top of the fourth. De La Osa and Romero hit back-to-back singles. After Waltenbury and Bigley went down on the strikes, Lanning's line drive plated De La Osa. That would signal a pitching change for the Mets, who sent Manuel Alvarez out to the hill to replace McHugh.
Severino would triple in the top of the 5th and Morales would get hit by a pitch. Beresford reached on a fielder's choice that took Severino out at home, saving the run. Morales would advance to 3rd on a throwing error by Moras, but would be left stranded when De La Osa popped out and Romero flew out to send the K-Mets to the plate.
Kyle Carr replaced Tippett in the bottom of the stanza and worked a quick 1-2-3 inning taking out McNulty, Welch and Rogelio Del Campo, who as brought in to replace Moras. The K-Mets pitcher was injured in a fifth inning wreck at home plate when he was run over by Severino.
Waltenbury would single to open up the top of the sixth, and moved to send on a wild pitch by Alvarez. Bigley would walk, and Lanning would single to load the bags. Following a pop out to Alex Soto, Severino doubled to bring in Walt and Bigley. Morales would go down on strikes, but a Beresford ground ball single drove in Lanning and Severino, to make it 10-6 Twins.
Zavala singled and moved to 3rd on a wild pitch by Carr. Alvarez would go down on strikes and Garber walk before Frenandez's ground out brought in Zavala. Suire would take a walk which prompted Ray Smith to walk out to the mound, removing Carr and bring in Berlind. A wild pitch by the new reliever advanced the runners, and Berlind would give up a double to bring in Garber and Suire before McNulty popped out to end the inning.
Travis Babin would allow a double to Romero in the 7th, and a Waltenbury single plated the Twins 3rd baseman to give Elizabethton an insurance run.
Welch would double in the bottom of the inning, but a fly out and a pair of strike out by Berlind left him on second with no further damage done.
Soto would single, Severino would be hit by a pitch and Morales would walk to load the bags in the top of the 8th. Beresford drew a walk to force in a run, and De La Osa would get hit by a pitch to bring in another one. Romero sacrificed in Morales, which concluded the scoring in the game.
Romero was 4-for-5 with a double a pair of runs and a pair of runs scored. Waltenbury was 3-for-5 with a walk, a pair of runs and a RBI. Severino would go 3-for-4 falling a home run shy of the cycle with 3 runs and 2 RBIs. Lanning was 3-for-6 with a double, a run and 3 RBIs. Bigley and Soto were both 1-for-5 with a run each; Morales and Beresford were 1-for-4 with a walk and a run each. Beresford had 3 RBIs to boot. Mike Harrington, coming in as a pinch hitter, went 1-for-1 to become the one hit wonder of the game.
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E-Star/MiLB
Mets Minor League Blog
Monday: Elizabethton 5 at Kingsport 6
W: M. Powers (2-0, 1.06); L: S. Blevins (0-2, 8.22)
HR: ELI: A. Morales 2 (9). KNG: J. Blaquiere (3), S. Welch (2).
The Elizabethton Twins would go into Monday night's contest looking for a sweep in the series, but home field advantage would work to Kingsport's favor in extra innings and the Twins would have to settle for a 2-1 split.
Raul Batis took the start for the K-Mets. He'd work 3 scoreless innings before Michael Harrington took a double from him. Angel Morales then put his 8th home run of the short season over the left field wall to give Elizabethton 2.
Stefan Welch would return the same in the bottom of the stanza, with his second of the year for the K-Mets going over the right field wall. Pedro Zapata would follow that up with a single, steal 2nd and then attempt to steal 3rd, but Danny Rams rifled a ball to Nat Hanson to take him down at third.
Justin Garber singled off Dan Osterbrock in the bottom of the 5th and Rafael Fernandez singled to move him to second. Kyle Suire's ground out put runners on 2nd and 3rd. Following a pop out to Wilmer Flores, Douglas McNulty reached on a throwing error by Hanson that also allowed Garber and Fernandez to score.
Kingsport would add another run each of the 7th and the 8th innings off Twins reliever Lee Martin.
With the K-Mets up by three, Evan Bigley took a walk in the top of the 9th. Harrington singled and following a Rams' strike out, Morales would go yard for the second time in the game, his 9th of the season clearing the right field wall to tie up the contest.
Steve Blevins would take over from Martin in the 10th inning and would strand Zapata after he reached on throwing error. Wilmer Flores double in the bottom of the 11th saw him taken out at 3rd on a fielder's choice.
Sadly, the E-Twins were not making much noise offensivly during this time. Romero would strike out in the 12th and Lanning and Bigley would both ground out bringing the K-Mets up to bat in the bottom half.
Blevins would get Zapata to ground out, but Jean Luc Blaquiere would go yard, his 3rd of the year going over the left field fence to make the K-Mets winners.
Harrington and Morales were both 3-for-5 with a pair of runs, Morales with 5 runs scored as well. Bigley was 2-for-5 with a walk and a run. Beresford (1-for-4), Waltenbury (1-for-5) and De La Osa (1-for-6) all chipped in singles to share the one hit wonder title.
Osterbrock would finish up allowing 3 runs, only 1 earned, on 7 hits and a walk while fanning 8 over six innings. Blevins' loss would be his second of the season, coming on 3 hits over 2.1 innings worth of work.
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With a 27-18 record, the E-Twins remain n first in the West Division, 1.5 games in front of Bristol. The White Sox come in to Joe O'Brien Stadium starting Tuesday for a 3-game series. The first pitch gets tossed at 7:00 PM to get the battle for the West Division underway. The Bri-sox have won their last seven.
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