Augusta Greenjackets play around the raindrops, defeat Fredericksburg Nationals, 10-4

Fredericksburg got an immaculate inning from Matt Merill, but the Augusta Greenjackets got the win, 10-4, on Friday night.

After a pair of scoreless frames to open up the ballgame, Augusta, the Low-A affiliate of the Atlanta Braves, scratched across the first run. Ambioris Tavarez worked a leadoff walk, and EJ Exposito walked later in the frame with one out. Then with two outs, Cory Acton punched an RBI single into right field to give the Greenjackets a 1-0 lead.

The FredNats, the Low-A affiliate of the Washington Nationals, were still in search of their first hit into the fourth inning, but Paul Witt kickstarted the frame by reaching second base on an E5. Jared Johnson then walked back-to-back hitters to load the bases, before he walked Max Romero Jr. to force in a run to tie the game 1-1.

Augusta went to the bullpen after Johnson got Roismar Quintana to pop out, but Nolan Martinez gave up a two-run single to Cortland Lawson as the Nats took a 3-1 lead.

However, the Greenjackets punched back immediately. Eliezel Stevens tripled as the leadoff man in the bottom of the fourth, before Franklin Marquez walked the next two men to load the bases.

A wild pitch brought one run home to cut the FredNats lead to 3-2, before Tavarez launched his fifth homer of the season.

That three-run shot gave Augusta a 5-3 advantage, before RBI singles by Jeremy Celedonio and Cory Acton pushed it to 7-3 Greenjackets.

Jonathan Thomas got hit by a pitch to open the top of the fifth inning, then was balked to second base before the skies opened up for a nearly-two hour rain delay.

In the bottom of the fifth, following the delay, Fredericksburg handed the ball to Merill. He then proceeded to spin an immaculate inning, striking out Eliezel Stevens, Dawson Dimon, and Francisco Floyd on nine straight strikes.

Merrill added another scoreless inning after that, and Juan Abreu got through the seventh for the Nats.

Then in the top of the eighth, Fredericksburg put together a two-out rally. Cortland Lawson drew a full count walk, then Armando Cruz singled with Lawson taking third base. Christopher De La Cruz delivered with his single, to cut the deficit to 7-4.

But in the bottom of the frame, Jeremy Celedonio responded with a three-run home run, giving Augusta a 10-4 that they would not give up.

Nolan Martinez got the win for the Greenjackets, and Franklin Marquez took the loss.

For Game 5 of six this week, Jose Atencio goes to work against southpaw Adam Shoemaker in a 6:05 start time.