The Potomac Nationals (9-13) snapped a three-game losing streak on Friday night, opening their weeklong road trip with a thrilling 12-10 victory over the Carolina Mudcats (12-10).
DH KJ Harrison, making his Carolina League debut after a call-up from the Hagerstown Suns earlier in the day, sparked several rallies with two doubles and two RBI in a four-hit night. CF Gage Canning had a four-hit performance of his own, plating four and scoring four with a pair of doubles and a triple.
Carolina struck first against RHP Malvin Pena, who struggled out of the gate for the second straight start. DH Mario Feliciano laced an RBI single to left field, and RF Rob Henry followed with a bases-loaded walk to put the Mudcats up 2-0.
That lead would be short-lived, as the P-Nats answered back in the second off RHP Christian Taugner (L, 1-3). Harrison led off the frame with a single in his first at-bat, and came home on Canning’s first double to the gap in right-center. At the bottom of the order, SS Osvaldo Abreu hit the first of three doubles on the night to score a pair and put Potomac ahead 3-2.
The P-Nats added to their lead in the third, scoring four on a Harrison RBI double, Canning two-run two-bagger, and Abreu RBI fielder’s choice. Taugner was chased after three innings, but the Carolina bullpen had similar struggles against the Nationals offense.
Henry hit a two-run homer in the third off Peña to draw the Mudcats to within three runs, and the two teams went back and forth in the middle innings. Carolina scored another two in the fourth on singles from CF Ryan Aguilar and C Payton Henry, and Peña departed after 3.1 innings of six-run ball.
AJ Bogucki worked out of a jam in the fourth to limit the damage, and Potomac scored three runs off LHP Cody Beckman in the fifth on a Canning triple, Abreu double, and 2B Cole Freeman single to take a 10-6 lead. Bogucki gave two runs back in the bottom half, uncorking a wild pitch to score Henry from third and serving up an RBI single to LF Joantgel Segovia.
Carolina inched closer in the seventh off LHP Carson Teel (W, 1-0), as Segovia came through once more with a two-out RBI single. But with the lead down to 10-9, Potomac got another RBI double from Harrison in the eighth and a two-bagger from Abreu in the ninth to give Frankie Bartow (S, 1) some breathing room. Bartow allowed an unearned run in the ninth, but fanned Aguilar as the tying run to win the ballgame.
The P-Nats look to clinch a series win on Saturday night as they send RHP Kyle Johnston to the mound against Carolina RHP Nelson Hernandez. The Potomac Broadcast will get underway at 4:45 p.m. with the P-Nats Leadoff Show before a scheduled 5:00 first pitch from Five County Stadium. You can listen to the Potomac broadcast at potomacnationals.com or on the TuneIn Radio App.
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