Lynchburg took the first game of the series against Potomac with some clutch at-bats and pitching, 5-4, at City Stadium Monday night. Sean Brady won his 11th game for the Hillcats after going 6 2/3 and striking out seven batters while not allowing a walk. Bobby Bradley slugged his 20th home run of the season and drove in two runners.
The Hillcats and Nationals traded runs throughout the game. The ‘Cats scored the first run of the game after Francisco Mejia singled, stole a base, and came in on a Bradley single. The Mejia single extended his hit streak to 43 games overall, which is tied for the eighth-longest in MiLB history. The Nationals knotted the score at one with a run in the second. Potomac took the lead in the third after Osvaldo Abreu and Max Schrock led the inning off with singles. Raudy Read recorded his second double of the game to drive in Abreu.
Mark Mathias opened the fifth inning with his 30th double of the season and proceeded to score after a passed ball and a groundout by Mejia. The ‘Cats tacked on two more runs in the seventh. Connor Marabell singled, which was followed by a RBI double from Mathias. Anthony Santander doubled to bring Mathias home and give the Hillcats a 5-2 lead. The Nationals answered with two runs in the eighth, but left the tying run on third.
Of the six batters left stranded for the Nationals, four of them were in scoring position to potentially tie the game or take the lead.Sean Brady tossed his seventh consecutive quality start, which dates back to June 28 against Wilmington. The lefty fanned seven batters including striking out two in the fifth frame. He was pulled after throwing 97 pitches, giving way to fellow southpaw David Speer. Speer retired the final batter in the seventh before he ran into some trouble in the eighth. He surrendered two runs on three hits and left two runners on base for Trevor Frank.
Frank shut the door in the eighth by striking out Dale Carey on three pitches and leaving runners on first and third. He completed the four-out save with a perfect ninth inning, which included another strikeout.
Lynchburg and Potomac each registered 11 hits…It is the 10th time this season in which Lynchburg and its opponent recorded the same number of hits…The Hillcats have a 6-4 record in those contests…Bobby Bradley’s homer was the 101st of the season for the Hillcats…Lynchburg is on pace for 132 home runs, which would break the team record set by the 2002 team with 131…The ‘Cats are 44-21 when hitting a home run this season.
The Hillcats and Nationals will play a doubleheader with both teams tied atop the Northern Division Tuesday at City Stadium at5:30 p.m. Jared Robinson (1-1, 9.39) will pitch the first game for Lynchburg against Austen Williams (2-3, 4.31). Fans can listen to the action on 93.3 FM and 1320 AM as well as www.lynchburg-hillcats.com.
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