Mets Roll Past Royals in Series Opener

Mets Roll Past Royals in Series Opener
Kingsport, TN - The Kingsport Mets used effective pitching from a trio of hurlers and timely hitting to down Burlington 9-1 in the series opener at Hunter Wright Stadium on Friday evening.
The first Kingsport pitcher was 17-year old Junior Santos, and the kid impressed, striking out five over three scoreless innings.
Kingsport picked up three early runs in the bottom of the second to open up the scoring, and the Royals never really threatened to challenge the lead.
Cristopher Pujols and Wilfred Astudillo began the inning with a single and double respectfully. Then after Pujols scored on a wild pitch, Tanner Murphy launched a two-run homer to left to give Kingsport a three-run lead.
The first man out of the pen was Jefferson Escorcha, who would pick up his league-leading sixth win against zero losses.
Escorcha allowed just one run on an RBI-single by Burle Dixon over his four innings of work.
Finally, Nick MacDonald would shut the door by throwing two uneventful frames to pick up his first save.
Kingsport got plenty of insurance in a six-run eighth inning, which featured a two-run homer by Pujols, a three-run double by Brett Baty, and a RBI-single by Anthony Dirocie.
The Mets and Royals will continue the series tomorrow night in Kingsport.
It's NY Mets T-Shirt Giveaway Night, as the first 300 fans through the gates will go home with a Mets shirt.
Tomorrow night's game will conclude with a special fireworks display presented by Domtar.
Follow the K Mets on Twitter and Instagram at @Kingsport_Mets and on Facebook at KingsportMetsBaseball.