Potomac (37-39-Overall, 16-22-Road, 4-2-Second Half) was two outs away from history with RHP Aaron Barrett, RHP Lucas Giolito and RHP Manny Rodriguez having thrown a combined no hitter through 8.1 innings before it was broken up by a single in the ninth but they held on for the 4-0 win over Frederick (34-43-Overall, 20-19-Home, 2-5-Second Half) on Wednesday night at Nymeo Field.
RHP Manny Rodriguez entered in the ninth inning after Major Leaguer RHP Aaron Barrett, on a rehab assignment with Potomac, threw a hitless, scoreless first frame, allowing a walk and striking out two. RHP Lucas Giolito’s (3-4, 3.08) entered in the second inning and threw seven hitless, scoreless innings where he walked one, hit two batters and struck out seven to earn the win before giving way to Rodriguez in the ninth.
Rodriguez retired the first hitter in the ninth, CF Josh Hart on a fly ball to centerfield. 2B Jeff Kemp was the next hitter and he lined a hard single to left field that LF Alec Keller came rushing in on and at the last second decided not to dive and played it on a bounce, it went off his glove and Kemp moved to second base after breaking up the no hitter with a single and moved to second on an error charged to Keller. Rodriguez retired the next two hitters to complete the 4-0 shutout victory for Potomac, their fourth win in a row.
LHP Chris Lee (2-4, 4.58) made the start for Frederick, his second against Potomac in 2015.
The P-Nats broke the scoreless tie in the top of the second when Lee, with one out, issued back-to-back walks to DH Grant Debruin and RF Brandon Miller. 2B Adrian Sanchez, the reigning Carolina Player of the Week, lined an RBI double to give Potomac a 1-0 lead and extend his hitting streak to eight games.
That was the only blemish for Lee on the night as he hurled six innings allowing one run (earned) on two hits, he walked three and struck out six, logging a quality start despite taking the loss.
RHP Jimmy Yacabonis entered in the seventh and pitched a one, two, three seventh inning to keep it at a 1-0 lead for Potomac. The eighth inning wasn’t so kind to Yacabonis. Potomac scored three times when Keller reached on an infield single followed by a CF Narciso Mesa RBI double to make it 2-0.SS Stephen Perez, the hero from an evening ago, reached on an error charged to Kemp at second base to put runners on first and third. Two batters laterC Spencer Kieboom lined a two-run double down the left field line to make it a 4-0 lead for the P-Nats, which was plenty for Giolito and company.
Yacabonis pitched two innings allowing three runs (one earned) on three hits, he didn’t issue a walk and struck out three.
RHP Donnie Hart pitched one inning, allowing two hits and no runs with a strikeout.
Potomac tied their season high winning streak with their fourth straight win after sweeping the Carolina Mudcats and look to win back-to-back series for the first time in 2015 tomorrow in Game Two against Frederick.
Potomac is now 8-4 in shutouts.
Potomac fell two outs short of throwing the franchise’s first no hitter since May 19th, 1995 when RHP Rich Pratt hurled a seven inning no hitter against Frederick in a 3-0 Cannons win. The last franchise combined no hitter was on April 8th, 1995, as a White Sox affiliate, when RHP Brian Woods and RHP Archie Vazquez combined for an 8-0 win over Salem in a nine hitter no-no.
Game Two tomorrow night from Nymeo Field at Harry Grove Stadium puts RHP Reynaldo Lopez (4-4, 4.88) for Potomac against RHP David Hess (3-4, 5.43), the reigning Carolina League Pitcher of the Week, for Frederick.
First pitch in Game Two is set for 7:00 pm and you can listen starting at 6:45 pm starting with the “P-Nats Lead-Off Show” and you can listen live via the TuneIn Radio App or at www.potomacnationals.com.
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