The Fredericksburg Nationals played perhaps their most complete ballgame of the 2021 season on Sunday afternoon, but allowed four runs in the final two innings to give the Delmarva Shorebirds a 6-4 win and series sweep.
The FredNats (0-12) are now the lone remaining winless team in Minor League Baseball after the Double-A Binghamton Rumble Ponies defeated the Altoona Curve in their game on Sunday.
Karlo Seijas became the first FredNats starter to pitch into the fifth inning, turning in an excellent performance. The righty struck out six over 5.0 innings of four-hit ball, allowing only a two-run homer to Mason Janvrin in the fourth.
Trailing 2-0 in the fifth, Landon Dieterich singled off Delmarva starter Griffin McLarty to start a rally. Jensen Elliott replaced McLarty with Dieterich at first and one out, and promptly walked José Sánchez to put the tying run on base. Jeremy De La Rosa collected his first FredNats hit with a sharp single to load the bases, and Dieterich scored on a wild pitch to put Fredericksburg on the board. One batter later, Viandel Peña collected a debut hit of his own with an RBI single to tie the game 2-2.
Tanner Driskill (L, 0-1) worked out of a jam in the sixth, coaxing a 3-6-1 double play to leave the bases loaded, and pitched a scoreless seventh as well. But Hudson Haskin broke the tie in the eighth with a two-run homer over the batter’s eye in center field, putting Delmarva ahead 4-2.
The Shorebirds added insurance runs in the ninth off Davis Moore on a two-run single from Darell Hernaiz. In the bottom of the ninth the FredNats didn’t go quietly, getting a two-run homer from Leandro Emiliani and bringing the tying run to the plate, but Leonardo Rodriguez (S, 1) got the final six outs to make a winner out of reliever Ryan Watson (W, 1-0).
The FredNats will look to regroup on Monday’s off day before continuing their homestand on Tuesday as they welcome the Salem Red Sox to town. First pitch from FredNats Ballpark is scheduled for 7:05, with FredNats On Deck beginning at 6:50 on the FredNats Baseball Network. A video broadcast of every home game is available with a subscription to MiLB.tv.
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Chris Graham
