BY JOSH FLOYD
SPORTS CORRESPONDENT
BRISTOL, Va. – With Tuesday’s steady rain retiring daylight earlier than usual at DeVault Stadium, die-hard fans had little trouble picking up the home runs smashed high into the dark skies from Kingsport’s Jeff Flagg and Ronald Harris.
Unfortunately for Bristol, those blasts received extra fuel from the Mets’ collective patience.
While BriSox pitchers issued a combined eight walks in a 10-6 Appalachian League setback, Kingsport batters reached on four of those occasions behind observant full-count takes, something not lost on Mets’ manager Mike DiFelice.
“That’s the one thing I’ve been really impressed with regarding our lineup,” said DiFelice, whose squad scored four times on those eight free passes. “We did it the other night in Greeneville at the end of the game … and you take what the pitcher is going to give you. I’m proud of these guys offensively, especially taking what’s given to them at the plate.”
No walk was more crucial than the one issued by Bristol pitcher Charles Delk with one out in the fifth to Kingsport third baseman Richard Lucas, who reached after taking a full-count offering just outside the strike zone. Delk – who pitched well for much of his 4 1/3 innings – then tailed a 1-2 fastball over the plate to Flagg, who promptly deposited a three-run homer well over the right-center field wall to highlight the first of two visitor four-spots.
The second four-run outburst from Kingsport (14-23) came in the eighth, thanks to three walks and two crucial singles from Harris and Gered Mochizuki.
The Bristol bats, meanwhile, came to life late, making things interesting. Kyle Davis and Jose Fulgencio supplied RBI hits in the frame, while a run-producing sac fly from teammate
Misael Tavarez cut the lead down to 10-5. Leighton Pangilinan added a one-out RBI single in the ninth for the Sox (15-23), who reached double digits in hits (10) for the first time since July 20.
“If we take the second half of that ballgame … it’s definitely something we can build on,” Bristol manager Ryan Newman said. “We haven’t been able to get on the field much, and it’s going to slow down your offense – especially when you miss four days. But you can see it coming back tonight.”
Pangilinan and Davis, along with Miguel Gonzalez and Dan Wagner, all supplied two hits for Bristol.
SOX NOTES: Gonzalez drilled his fourth homer of the season in the sixth, a solo shot to left. … Alonzo Harris scored three times for the Mets. … David Holmberg (0-0, 4.97 ERA) will get the nod today for Bristol against Kingsport, now just a half-game behind the locals for fourth place in the West Division.
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