Lynchburg jumped out to an early lead and a stellar, career-long 7 1/3 innings by Mitch Brown propelled the Hillcats to a 4-3 win over the Potomac Nationals on Tuesday night at G. Richard Pfitzner Stadium. Ben Heller held off a late charge by Potomac to earn his 10th save of the year.
QUICK OUT OF THE GATE
Following a pair of back-to-back walks by Clint Frazier and Bradley Zimmer, Lynchburg struck first on a RBI single by Mike Papi that gave the Hillcats a 1-0 lead in the top of the first inning.
The game went scoreless through the second and third innings as Mitch Brown carried a no-hitter into the fifth. Lynchburg tallied another run in the top of the fourth as Claudio Bautista ripped his first home run in a Hillcats uniform over the left-center field wall to make it 2-0.
A leadoff walk in the fifth inning by Clint Frazier was followed by a RBI double off the bat of Bradley Zimmer to put the Hillcats up 3-0 before the Nationals had even recorded a hit.
Potomac found some momentum in the home half of the sixth when Brandon Miller doubled to lead off the inning and advanced to third on a fielder’s choice. He was driven in by Narciso Mesa, who grounded out to shortstop, to cut the lead to two. Lynchburg tacked on an insurance run in the top of the eighth that proved necessary as Mike Papi doubled to right to scoreNellie Rodriguez for a 4-1 lead. With two RBIs, Papi has recorded 11 RBIs in his last 10 games while extending his hitting streak to nine.
WON’T GO OUT WITHOUT A FIGHT
Potomac put on its rally caps in the home half of the eighth with a leadoff single by Adrian Sanchez followed by Grant DeBruinbeing hit by a pitch. Estarlin Martinez singled to drive home Sanchez and cut the margin to 4-2. Ben Heller replaced Mitch Brown with one out in the inning and Potomac added one more run on a RBI single by Alec Keller that brought Potomac within one. Lynchburg went down in order in the ninth and Ben Heller returned to close out the game in the bottom half. Heller struck out the first batter and walked the second before striking out Adrian Sanchez and forcing DeBruin to fly out to right to end the game. Heller earned the save, his 10th of the season, and his fourth in his last six appearances.
OH SNAP!
Two great hitting streaks came to an end for the Hillcats on Tuesday. Luigi Rodriguez went 0-for-5 at the plate, bringing the longest hit streak by a Hillcat this season to an end at 12 games. Ivan Castillo also went hitless tonight going 0-for-4 with a strikeout, ending his streak at seven games.
KEEPING UP WITH THE ‘CATS
Mitch Brown went at least seven innings for the fourth time this season, tying a career high after throwing 7 1/3 innings against Potomac…In the four starts Brown has pitched at least seven innings, the Hillcats are 2-2…Ben Heller pitched 1 1/3 scoreless innings…He is now scoreless in his last 7 1/3 innings and has allowed just one hit in his last eight appearances.
UP NEXT
Lynchburg will look to make it three in a row against the Potomac Nationals on Wednesday night at 7:05 p.m. Fans can tune in to the action on ESPN Virginia 93.3 FM and 1320 AM as well as www.lynchburg-hillcats.com beginning at 6:40 p.m. for the Hillcats On-Deck Show.
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Chris Graham
