The Fredericksburg Nationals got a game-tying home run from Jeremy Ydens with two outs in the ninth and a walk-off single from Kevin Strohschein with two outs in the tenth for a 10-9 win over the Lynchburg Hillcats.
Fredericksburg was one out away from a disheartening loss, as they squandered a 7-0 lead and a solid start from Michael Cuevas. The win, in front of a Father’s Day sellout crowd of 4626 fans, was the second walk-off for the FredNats in the past six games and snapped a four-game skid.
The FredNats jumped on Lynchburg starter Joshua Wolf in the first, getting consecutive two-run doubles from Ricardo Méndez and Jake Randa to take a 4-0 lead. They added three more in the third on home runs from Geraldi Diaz and Ydens, marking the first time the FredNats had hit back-to-back homers this season.
Cuevas had the longest start of his career, allowing one run on two hits over 5.0 innings, and obliterated his previous career-high in strikeouts with nine on the afternoon. He finished the series with 9.0 innings, allowing one earned run on six hits with 11 strikeouts.
The Hillcats scratched across a run in the fourth on an infield single from Andres Melendez, but set the offense in motion when Cuevas departed. They scored two runs in the sixth against Matt Merrill on a Hosea Nelson single and wild pitch, and tied the game with four against Merrill and Gilberto Chu in the seventh. Angel Martinez greeted Chu with a two-run single, followed by a Yainer Diaz game-tying double.
Chu came back out for the eighth, and allowed a go-ahead RBI double to Alexfri Planez before a Strohschein error allowed an insurance run to score. With nine unanswered runs and a 9-7 lead, the Hillcats handed the ball to Jerson Ramirez (L, 0-1) in search of his league-leading sixth save of the season.
Ramirez got the first two outs quickly before Allan Berríos coaxed a walk to keep the game alive and bring Ydens to the plate. On the first pitch, the Fredericksburg right fielder blasted his second homer of the game over the concourse in left field to tie the game. It was the first multi-homer game of the season for any FredNats player.
Davis Moore (W, 2-0) backed up a perfect ninth with a perfect top of the tenth, stranding the automatic baserunner at second to keep the game tied. Ramirez came out for the bottom of the tenth and again got two outs before J.T. Arruda was intentionally walked to face Strohschein. In his first game back in the FredNats lineup, the first baseman hit a liner beyond the reach of Planez in right to score Jake Boone and win the game 10-9.
The FredNats enjoy an off day on Monday before heading to Salisbury, Maryland to take on the Delmarva Shorebirds for a six-game series on Tuesday. First pitch from Perdue Stadium is scheduled for 7:05, with FredNats On Deck beginning at 6:50 on the FredNats Baseball Network.
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Chris Graham
