Gigliotti's Homers Not Enough as Royals Fall

BURLINGTON, N.C.- Despite two home runs from CF Michael Gigliotti, the Burlington Royals dropped their season opener to the Kingsport Mets on Thursday night at Burlington Athletic Stadium by a 10-5 score.
Gigliotti's first blast of the night came in the bottom of the third, a two-run shot which also scored 3B Oliver Nunez , who had walked. The homer gave Burlington a temporary 2-1 lead, as Kingsport scored a run on an RBI single by LF Wagner Lagrange in the first.
Gigliotti, the Royals' fourth-round draft pick in this June's draft, hit his second long ball in the ninth, a solo shot which trimmed what was a 10-2 Mets lead. Just four batters later, 1B Dennicher Carrasco hit his own two-run homer for the Royals, driving in RF Jose Caraballo .
Unfortunately, the home runs were not enough to overcome a middle-inning onslaught from the Mets, who scored two runs in the fourth on RBI singles from 3B Rigaberto Terrazas and CF Ranfy Adon  to take the lead for good.
RHP Nathan Webb pitched effectively for the Royals in a starting role, scattering five hits and two walks over four innings and a batter. He struck out four. In the sixth, facing LHP Felix Familia , the Mets blew the game open with five runs. Three of the runs scored on triples - a two-RBI triple by Adon and an RBI triple by RF Anthony Dirocie .
An additional two runs scored for the Mets in the eighth against RHP Tyler Fallwell  off of a Lagrange RBI single and a Dirocie RBI groundout. Fallwell would allow a pair of unearned runs on just two hits and a walk over 2.1 innings. He struck out two.
The final Royals pitcher to throw was RHP Luis Alcantara , who struck out a batter in a 1-2-3 ninth. Carrasco had a team-high three hits in the loss, adding two singles to his homer. Gigliotti and 2B Jose Marquez had two hits apiece.
The series continues on Friday night at 7:00 p.m. LHP Mike Messier starts for the Royals against Mets RHP Carlos Hernandez . Coverage with Matt Krause begins at 6:45 p.m. on www.burlingtonroyals.com and the TuneIn app. At the ballpark, it will be Star Wars Night! Come out to Burlington Athletic Stadium dressed up as your favorite Star Wars character! For tickets, call (336) 222-0223 or visit www.burlingtonroyals.com.
Kingsport 10, Burlington 5
WP: Jose Geraldo (1-0)
LP: Nathan Webb (0-1)
HR: BUR- Michael Gigliotti 2 (2), Dennicher Carrasco (1)
Box Score