The Lynchburg Hillcats scored twice in the bottom of the eighth inning to beat the Potomac Nationals 3-1 at City Stadium. Potomac starter Alex Meyer didn’t factor into the decision tossing six one-run innings for the P-Nats.
Potomac struck first in the third inning all with a run thanks to Michael Taylor. Against former Salem Red Sox hurler Michael Lee, Taylor singled to lead off the inning. With Kevin Keyes up, Taylor stole second and got to third on a wild pitch. Keyes then hit a fly ball to center scoring Taylor to give Potomac a 1-0 lead.
The Hillcats were finally able to score against Potomac starter Alex Meyer in the sixth manufacturing a run themselves. Matt Weave reached on a broken bat single to left center. He advanced to second on a sac bunt by Mycal Jones. Weaver reached third on a passed ball and scored on a Nick Ahmed sac fly to tie the game 1-1. It was the first run yielded by Meyer in the Carolina League in his 12th inning of work in the circuit. The run was unearned.
Meyer didn’t factor into the decision in his second start with Potomac. He tossed six innings for the second time as a P-Nat giving up just one run, two hits, one walk while striking out five batters. Weaver was the only player to reach second base against Meyer.
Lynchburg was able to break through in the eighth inning against Nationals reliever Jimmy Barthmaier. Bobby Stevens led off the inning with a single and stole second. Stevens scored on a infield single by Weaver when Barthmaier threw had his throw go wide of first base to give the Hillcats a 2-1 lead. Weaver was able to advanced to second on the throwing error and he scored on a single by Mycal Jones to extend the Lynchburg lead to 3-1.
The P-Nats had a chance to tie the game in the ninth against Lynchburg reliever Ryan Weber. Singles by J.P. Ramirez and Ricky Hague plus a walk from Steven Souza Jr. loaded the bases with two outs bringing up MiLB RBI leader Jason Martinson. But Martinson struck out on a 2-2 pitch to end the contest. It was the first save of the year for Weber.
Lee (1-1) earned his first Carolina League win since 2010 by tossing eight one-run innings giving up just four hits — all singles and walking none. He struck out seven Potomac batters as well. Barthmaier (1-1) took his first loss of the season in his 14th appearance.
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Chris Graham
