Home Big early inning, shutdown relief push Fredericksburg Nationals to 7-3 win at Augusta
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Big early inning, shutdown relief push Fredericksburg Nationals to 7-3 win at Augusta

Chris Graham

fredericksburg nationals A four-run second inning, and four scoreless innings from the bullpen, powered the Fredericksburg Nationals to a 7-3 win over the Augusta Greenjackets on Saturday.

The Greenjackets, the Low-A affiliate of the Atlanta Braves, got on the board quickly in game five of the series, as Ambioris Tavarez lashed a leadoff double in the bottom of the fourth. After a flyout, EJ Exposito plated Tavarez with a line drive single.

But in the top of the second, the FredNats, the Low-A affiliate of the Washington Nationals, answered right back. Blake Klassen led off with a walk, and he took second base on a wild pitch. Wilmer Perez then drove him in with an RBI single the other way to tie the game.

After Cortland Lawson walked, John McHenry gave the FredNats a 2-1 lead with his base hit to right field, with Perez scoring. Lawson effectively stole home later in the frame on a bad throw back from the catcher after a strikeout, which gave the Nationals a third run, before Sammy Infante flipped a single into shallow left, bringing McHenry in to make it a 4-1 game.

Augusta got a run back in the home fourth on a Tyler Collins single, and cut it to a two-run deficit again on a RBI groundout in the fifth. But in the top of the sixth, McHenry clubbed his first FredNat home run, then Roismar Quintana tacked on in the seventh to make it 7-3 FredNats.

Pedro Gonzalez worked a scoreless seventh out of the FredNat bullpen, then Marquis Grissom Jr. fired two shutout frames to lock down a 7-3 Fredericksburg win.

Jose Atencio improved to 4-4 this season with the win, giving up three runs on eight hits in five innings, striking out four and walking two, while Adam Shoemaker fell to 0-6.

In the series finale tomorrow afternoon, Luke Young goes up against righty Seth Keller.

Chris Graham

Chris Graham

Chris Graham is the founder and editor of Augusta Free Press. A 1994 alum of the University of Virginia, Chris is the author and co-author of seven books, including Poverty of Imagination, a memoir published in 2019, and Team of Destiny: Inside Virginia Basketball’s Run to the 2019 National Championship, and The Worst Wrestling Pay-Per-View Ever, published in 2018. For his commentaries on news, sports and politics, go to his YouTube page, or subscribe to his Street Knowledge podcast. Email Chris at [email protected].