In their final home game of the 2018 regular season, the Potomac Nationals (34-30, 71-60) dropped the series finale against the Frederick Keys (28-37, 63-71) by a 3-0 score on Thursday night.
In his first start since his no-hitter on August 25th, LHP Matthew Crownover (L, 5-9) retired the first five batters he face in the game. A two-out single by RF T.J. Nichting snapped a streak of 37 consecutive outs picked up by Crownover without allowing a hit, dating back to his 8/19 start against Carolina.
Ultimately, Frederick got the best of Crownover in the third. SS Chris Clare was hit by a pitch and 1B Wilson Garcia connected on a single with two outs, allowing the next batter, DH Jomar Reyes, to drive home both runners with a line drive double in the left-centerfield gap. Those two runs were the only allowed by Crownover throughout his five innings on the mound.
Potomac turned to the bullpen in the sixth, starting with RHP A.J. Bogucki. Reyes reached on an error by SS Luis Garcia to start off Bogucki’s appearance. Nichting moved the runner to third on a double, and CF Cole Billingsley drove home the third run of the game with a sacrifice fly to left.
After that, Bogucki and LHP Hayden Howard locked down the remainder of the game, allowing just the one unearned run.
The pitching for Frederick was dominant, as RHP Michael Baumann (W, 8-5) and LHP Tyler Erwin (SV, 18) shutout The P-Nats’ offense. Baumann matched a season-high with seven innings, striking out five batters. Erwin struck out three over two innings, facing the minimum to close out the win for the Keys.
Garcia and RF Jack Sundberg picked up the only two hits of the game for Potomac, both singles.
The P-Nats hit the road to Wilmington for the final series of the 2018 regular season. On Friday, RHP Jackson Tetreault (0-1, 6.32) will take the mound for The Red, White, & Blue. Tetreault has spanned 5.1 innings in each of his last two starts, allowing just three runs against the Lynchburg Hillcats his last time out. Wilmington has not yet announced a starter for Friday’s game.
First pitch at Frawley Stadium on Friday is set for 7:05pm. The Potomac broadcast will get underway at 6:50pm 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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