Deep pitching counts, long innings, and long fly balls were the highlight of Tuesday’s Appalachian League game between the Elizabethton Twins and Kingsport Mets. Oh, and by the way, first place was also on the line.
The Mets had a chance to sneak into first place with a win, but the loss gives the Twins a one and one half game lead over Kingsport with the finale of this set coming Wednesday night.
The Twins (25-18) bashed out 17 hits, including four home runs in a 16-10 win at Joe O’Brien Field that took 3 hours and 45 minutes to play. First baseman Chris Williams launched his 13th and 14th homers of the season while outfielder Colton Burns came off the injured list with a 3-for-4 night including a three-run blast.
Catcher Robert Molina hit a third-inning grand slam as the Twins scored eight runs in the frame but had to hold on for the win.
Righthander Nate Peden opened on the bump for Kingsport, and he looked pretty good over the first two innings, but the wheels came off in the third as the Twins opened with three straight hits to bring home a run on a single by Jared Akins.
One out later, Williams tattooed his 13th homer of the season – a three-run blast – to make it a 4-0 Twins lead, but the damage was not yet over for Peden and the Mets.
“It’s been fun,” Williams said of his big six RBI, two-homer night. “I think it’s just a combination of battling, having good at-bats and making sure I get a pitch I can do some damage with. I try to stay patient and wait for my pitch. The thing I am working on most is consistency. I have always been a streaky hitter, but I want to try to make the good streaks last longer than the bad ones.”
A walk and two more singles brought Molina to the dish, and he smashed a delivery from Peden over the fence in rightfield for a grand slam and an 8-0 Betsy lead.
The Mets (25-21) retaliated in the fourth against Twins starter Luis Rijo with five runs on just two hits. An infield error by third baseman Alex Robles helped get the rally started, and with one out Shervyen Newton singled to put Kingsport runners on first and second.
A hit batter and two walks brought home a run, and a double to left by designated hitter Randy Adon cleared the bases and cut the Twins lead to 8-5.
“Well, you know the last three years each team has had a personality of their own,” Twins manager Ray Smith said. “The last few seasons our personality has been more on the offensive side. We have tried to find a way pitching wise to work it out, but we didn’t pitch well tonight. Sometimes pitching wins you games and sometimes the hitters have to bail out the pitchers. Tonight the hitters came through.”
In the seventh, Burns crushed a two-run blast to right and finished his night 3-for-4 as all but Robles collected at least one hit. For the Mets, Adon drove in six runs with a bases-loaded double and a three-run homer in the sixth.
Pedro Garcia (3-3) got the win with 3.1 innings of relief work.
E-Twins 16-10
Kingsport 000 503 020 – 10 6 2
E-Twins 008 202 40x – 16 17 2
W – Garcia (3-3) L- Peden (1-2)