Fredericksburg Nationals struggle at the plate, fall to Charleston Riverdogs, 4-1

The Fredericksburg Nationals took their first loss of the series this week, falling 4-1 against the Charleston Riverdogs on Friday night.

After the first two innings went by scoreless, the Riverdogs, the Low-A affiliate of the Tampa Bay Rays, drew first blood in the top of the third inning. Cooper Kinney worked a walk with two outs in the frame, then Dom Keegan quickly doubled off the wall in center field to plate Kinney and give the ‘Dogs a 1-0 edge.

However, Fredericksburg, the Low-A affiliate of the Washington Nationals, quickly tied the game in the home half of the fourth. The inning got off to a hot start, with a pair of walks and a Geraldi Diaz single to load the bases with no outs. Roismar Quintana then blistered a ball into dead center, but it was caught by Jhon Diaz. That was enough to bring Lile in from third base, but the Nats couldn’t muster any more offense in the frame.

Charleston pulled back ahead in the sixth inning, which began with a Ryan Spikes triple. Odalys Peguero plated him with a fly ball to center field, then Diaz followed with a solo blast to right, putting the Riverdogs up 3-1. They added another run in the seventh, and held on from there for a 4-1 victory.

Jake Christianson got his second win of the year, Drew Sommers earned the save, while Miguel Gomez took the loss to fall to 4-4.

For Saturday, it’s Jarlin Susanna against Alex Ayala Jr. in a 6:05 start.