Moreno Drives in Four as Mets Cap Season with Win

KINGSPORT, Tenn.- The Kingsport Mets rallied behind four Hansel Moreno RBIs and three pitchers who tossed a four-hit shutout to snap an eight-game in-season losing streak to the Elizabethton Twins with the 8-0 shutout victory Thursday night in the season's finale at Hunter Wright Stadium.
Kingsport (29-37) avoided the season-sweep of Elizabethton (41-27) Thursday night with the fifth shutout victory of the season for the Mets. Thanks to a pair of two-run home runs and a four-run seventh inning, Aneury Olivo, Garrison Bryant and Edwin German were able to limit the Twins to only four hits on the night in the final game of the 2017 season.
Dan Hoy got things going for the Mets in the bottom of the fourth with a two-run shot to left field. The home run was the third long ball of the season for Hoy as all three bombs the utility player has hit on the year have come with runners on base.
In the following inning, Moreno struck a two-run home run of his own, his fourth of the season, to bring the score to a 4-0 tally for Kingsport through five innings of play.
Not done yet at the plate, Moreno struck gold again in the seventh inning with a two-run single right up the middle of the diamond as the drive brought in RBI NO. 3 and 4 on the night for the switch-hitting third baseman.
A batter later, Mark Vientos singled in another with a drive to center field and Moreno was able to scoot all the way around from first base to score on a fielding error by Twins second baseman, Jose Miranda, with a bobbled cut-off throw. In all, the Mets plated four runs in the seventh off four hits.
That was all the scoring on the night as Kingsport cruised to the 8-0 victory over Elizabethton-its first win over the Twins this season to snap an 0-8 record coming into the game.
Olivo (1-1) picked up the win on the night following his best start of the season for the Mets. The southpaw tossed six innings of shutout baseball with two strikeouts while only allowing two hits. Bryant and German combined to pitch the final three innings to preserve the shutout with only two hits surrendered by the two.
Taking home the loss in relief was Blair Lakso (1-4) after the righty surrendered four runs in 2 2/3 innings of work. Rick Ramirez also surrendered four runs in the loss while Moises Gomez's solid start is for not after the starter tossed the opening three innings of shutout baseball.
Three K-Mets tallied multi-hit days in the season-finale as the Mets plated eight runs off nine hits overall. Moreno was 2-for-4 on the night with a home run and four RBIs while Hoy also drove a two-run shot out of the ball park. Grabiel Jimenez and Raphael Gladu were the other multi-hit days for Kingsport.
Kingsport finishes the season with a record of 29-37 for fourth-place in the Appalachian League West for the second-consecutive season. The Mets had two All-Star selections, Rigoberto Terrazas and Wagner Lagrange and two Player of the Week honors, Terrazas and Dionis Paulino, on the year.  
Stay plugged in to the Kingsport Mets this offseason by visiting the club's website at kmets.com or by following the Mets on social media on Twitter, Facebook, Instagram and Snapchat (Kingsport_Mets).