Mets hold off Yankees, even series

KINGSPORT, Tn  The Pulaski Yankees were held to just three hits, and the Kingsport Mets won a duel of the pitchers, 2-1 on Monday to even the three game series. Wellington Caceres took the mound for his third start of the season and was unable to make it through five innings for the first time in 2018. Mets’ pitcher Matt Cleveland tossed five shutout innings allowing one hit, three walks and three strikeouts. Cleveland was credited with his first win of the season.

A night after the Mets scored four in the first inning, the game remained scoreless until the fifth frame. With the bases loaded and two outs, Guillermo Granadillo singled on a ground ball into center field for a RBI single. The base hit ended Wellington Caceres’ night, and Pulaski manager Nick Ortiz called for reliever Brett Morales. 

A wild pitch with Luis Santana batting scored Ranfy Adon from 90 feet away to open Kingsport’s lead to 2-0. The run was charged to Caceres, officially closing his statistic line. Morales pitched 2.1 total innings and only yielded one hit and struck out four.

Pulaski entered the ninth inning with the 3-4-5 hitters in Ezequiel Duran, Carlos Tatis and yesterday’s hero, Nelson Gomez due up. Andrew Mitchell entered the game in the ninth inning, seeking his first save of 2018. On a 1-0 pitch, Duran went yard to leadoff the inning and suddenly bring the Yankees within one.

The late game drama continued to build, as Carlos Tatis struck out but advanced to first on a wild pitch. Evan Alexander replaced Tatis on the bases. A wild pitch in the next at bat moved the tying run to scoring position. Gomez and Saul Torres both struck out for the first two outs of the inning. With Max Burt batting, Evan Alexander tried to score on a wild pitch but was thrown out at home plate to end the ball game. 

Pulaski’s record fell to 5-8, while the Mets improved to 8-5 on the season. The 2-1 win for the Kingsport Mets evened the three game series with the rubber match set for Tuesday at 6:30 p.m. from Hunter Wright Stadium.