C Tomas Nido Knocked Out From Collison

Look up "hard-luck loser" in the dictionary, and you might find a picture of Akeel Morris. The Kingsport Mets' starting pitcher retired the side in order in all but one of his six innings on the mound, but still came away from Hunter Wright Stadium with the loss as the K-Mets dropped a 12-0 decision to the Greeneville Astros on Sunday.
Morris allowed the first four runs -- all in the fourth inning on five hits. That's the only offense, and the only base runners, Morris gave up during six total frames of work. And, even then, Morris only gave up one hard-hit ball, on a double by Ernesto Genoves that accounted for the final two runs. Before that, Morris gave up two bunt singles, a bloop to right field and a groundball through the left side of the infield.
Unfortunately, for Kingsport, Morris' counterpart was even better. Francis Ramirez worked six scoreless innings, allowing two hits in what can be described as an "effectively wild" performance -- five walks and seven strikeouts. Zachary Hardoin, Andrew Walter and Euris Quezada each worked an inning of relief.
Greeneville, meanwhile, broke open the game against Miller Diaz, the first guy out of the bullpen for Kingsport. Diaz allowed eight runs, seven earned, on four hits and four bases on balls. He allowed the first five hitters he faced in the eighth inning to reach safely, and the last -- James Howick -- did the most damage. Howick swatted a three-run home run to left field, that accounted for the final 12-0 score.
D'Andre Toney, Ernesto Genoves and Ariel Ovando each tallied two RBIs for the Astros.
Kingsport finished with only three hits, all singles by Maikis De La Cruz, Michael Bernal and Jeffrey Diehl.
The K-Mets will try to turn things around tonight, in what's sure to be a packed house. Admission is free for the game.

NOTES: Kingsport catcher Tomas Nido left the game due to injury in the third inning. Nido, the Mets' 10th-round pick in June's draft, was knocked out after a wicked collision with Toney at the plate. That play began when Morris' pitch went in the dirt, giving Jean Batista the opening to advance to second base. When Nido threw to second, Toney broke for home. Shortstop Anthony Chavez fired the ball to Nido, who tagged out Toney despite the impact of the collision. Alex Machillanda replaced Nido. ... Stephen Matz (0-1, 3.24 ERA) will go for Kingsport tonight against Christopher Lee (0-0, 10.80 ERA).