For the seventh time this year, the Potomac Nationals (13-16, 50-46) shutout their opponents en route to victory, this time a 5-0 win over the Salem Red Sox (15-15, 47-51) on Sunday.
Before LHP Ben Braymer (W, 5-3) set foot on the mound, his teammates gave him a lead to work with in the top of the first. Facing Salem RHP Jake Thompson (L, 4-9), CF Jack Sundberg got the rally started with a one-out double down the left field line. The next batter, 3B Ian Sagdal, drove in the first run of the game with an RBI triple to right-center, his second triple of the season. Two batters later, Thompson fired a wild pitch past C Nick Sciortino, allowing Sagdal to jog home for the second run of the inning.
After three scoreless frames to start off Braymer’s day, Potomac’s offense got back to work in the fourth. CF Nick Banks and LF Telmito Agustin started off the inning with back-to-back singles, advancing to third on a fielding error from Salem RF Victor Acosta. With two outs in the inning, 2B Bryan Mejia came through with a two-run single to double the lead, making it 4-0.
The final insurance run for The P-Nats came in the top of the sixth. Another leadoff single from Banks led to an RBI double from Agustin, his first extra-base hit and run batted in since returning from the disabled list.
Braymer held onto that 5-0 lead in his final inning of work, a scoreless bottom of the sixth. In the win, Braymer went six innings, allowing no runs on five hits while striking out four. In his seventh start as a P-Nat this season, the lefty picked up his sixth quality start.
RHP Carlos Acevedo entered in the seventh inning and tossed two perfect frames, striking out a batter, while RHP Steven Fuentes worked a scoreless ninth to preserve the shutout and the win. Following the three clean frames from Acevedo and Fuentes, the P-Nats bullpen has not allowed a run in 22.1 innings.
Potomac’s fifth win in a row ties for the longest winning streak this season.
With the series victory already locked up, The P-Nats look for a sweep against Salem on Monday afternoon. RHP Kyle Johnston (1-0, 5.00) will make his third start of the season in the Carolina League. Johnston took a no decision in his last start, 7/16 against Frederick. Salem will turn to RHP Tanner Houck (4-11, 4.80). Houck is 1-0 with a 5.91 earned run average in two starts against Potomac this season.
First pitch at Haley Toyota Field on Monday is set for 11:00am. The Potomac broadcast will get underway at 10:45pm with the P-Nats Leadoff Show. You can listen to the Potomac broadcast at potomacnationals.com, at http://bit.ly/P-NatsBroadcast, or on the TuneIn Radio App.
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