With a slight shakeup to the roster with the addition of 19-year-old RF Juan Soto from Hagerstown and 1B Ian Sagdal from the disabled list, the Potomac Nationals (10-9) picked up a 5-1 win over the Wilmington Blue Rocks (8-10) in the series opener on Tuesday night. RHP Tyler Mapes (W, 3-0) allowed a run two batters into his outing, but posted zeroes the rest of the way, while DH Telmito Agustin’s seventh inning home run proved to be the difference in the game.
LF Rudy Martin led off Wilmington’s offensive night with a triple to centerfield. One batter later, 2B D.J. Burt made it 1-0 with a sacrifice fly. It was the fifth consecutive game in which Potomac has given up the first run of the game.
Potomac tied the game with a run in the second inning against RHP Anthony Bender (ND). Sagdal doubled in his first at-bat off of the DL, while a pair of walks loaded the bases. Agustin tallied his first of two RBIs in the game with a single to LF. The teams remained deadlocked at 1-1 until the seventh inning.
While both Mapes and Bender worked in and out of some trouble through their respective starts, the game turned to the Wilmington bullpen, as Bender departed after a two-out single from CF Blake Perkins in the fifth inning.
RHP Ofreidy Gomez (L, 0-2) entered for Wilmington to begin the seventh inning. After two straight strikeouts, he gave up a double to Sagdal, but stranded him at third base. In the following frame, Gomez once again struck out the first two batters in the inning, but Agustin followed with a towering home run to right field. Agustin’s first home run of the season gave Potomac a 2-1 lead.
The P-Nats put the game away with three runs in the top of the ninth inning against RHP Bryan Brickhouse. The righty walked the first two hitters that he faced in the frame, while Agustin reached on a fielder’s choice, with no out recorded, which loaded the bases with no outs. Perkins made it 3-1 Potomac with a sacrifice fly, SS Carter Kieboom made it 4-1 with a bloop single to right field, and Soto finished off the scoring with an RBI groundout.
After two scoreless innings from LHP Jordan Mills, RHP James Bourque closed out the game with a scoreless ninth inning. Potomac snapped a three-game losing streak with the win. Perkins, Sagdal, and Agustin all recorded a multi-hit game for the P-Nats in the victory.
With a win in the series opener, Potomac will turn to RHP Wil Crowe (2-0, 3.94) in the middle game of the set. Crowe has pitched at least five innings and allowed no more than three earned runs in each of his three starts this season. In an effort to level the series, RHP Gerson Garabito (1-1, 2.12) is set to start for the Blue Rocks. Garabito allowed only one hit over six-scoreless frames against Potomac in a no-decision on 4/8.
First pitch at Frawley Stadium on Wednesday night is set for 6:35pm. The Potomac broadcast will get underway at 6:20pm with the P-Nats Leadoff Show. You can listen to the Potomac broadcast at potomacnationals.com or on the TuneIn Radio App.
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Chris Graham
