No relief for Kingsport skipper

YOU HAD ONE JOB, Luis Rivera.

Just in case you thought Met misery was limited to the big club, Rivera, manager of the rookie league Kingsport Mets, forgot to include the names and numbers of several relievers on his official lineup card Friday night, according to the Kingsport Times-News. And when starter Connor Buchmann was bounced after four innings, the worst-case scenario became reality.

Rivera trotted out lefthander Seth Davis to start the fifth, but umpire Jeb Bennett stopped the game. Davis wasn’t on the lineup card and therefore wasn’t eligible to pitch.

As it turns out, Davis wasn’t the only reliever absent from the all-important lineup.

Rivera was forced to pitch three position players to reach the eighth inning and bring in closer Nabil Crismatt, who somehow was included among the team’s available players.

By that point, though, the game was out of hand, as outfielder Jose Figuera surrendered six earned runs in the fifth before infielders Luis Ortega and Gregory Valencia allowed three more over the next two-plus innings. The trio of position players combined for seven walks.

The Mets went on to lose the game, 159. Rivera attempted an explanation after the game.

“Some of the guys weren’t ready to pitch tonight and I forgot also to put a couple of pitchers in,” Rivera told the Times-News.

Managerial gaffes aside, Rivera was proud of his team’s effort.

“When something happens, you’ve got to go with Plan B . . . never give up and try to win the ballgame, which is what we did,” Rivera said.