The Lynchburg Hillcats lost to the Potomac Nationals 5-2 tonight. Trent Moses hit his first home run as a Hillcat to put Lynchburg on the board in the fifth inning, but the ‘Cats were held scoreless in the other eight frames tonight. Nationals pitching faced just three over the minimum in the series clinching victory. Potomac took three of four from the Hillcats this week.
Jarett Miller ran into trouble early on the mound for the Hillcats (8-17, 44-50). Caleb Ramsey doubled in the first inning, stole third, and scored on a wild pitch giving the Nationals (15-11, 57-38) an immediate lead. The bottom of the second began with a walk and a hit batter, but Miller pitched out of the jam. He wasn’t as fortunate in the third. He walked the lead off batter again, Billy Burns. With two outs, he fell behind Adrian Nieto 3-0. First base was open with Burns at second base, and the switch hitting Nieto was intentionally walked to get to the right-handed Kevin Keyes. Playing the matchup didn’t work out for Lynchburg as Keyes smacked a two run double to left field. The Nationals went up 3-0.
Moses broke up A.J. Cole’s shutout in the fifth inning with a solo homer down the right field line. Cole walked the next batter Kyle Kubitza, who would advance to second on a ground out. Kubitza then stole third base, and as the throw got past the third baseman, he scored bring the Hillcats within one run.
Miller (7-6) left the game tonight after just three innings. Zack Jadofsky threw three scoreless innings behind Miller before handing the ball Nate Hyatt in the seventh. Hyatt gave up two runs in an 1.1 innings, leaving the game with the bases loaded in the eighth inning. John Cornely walked in an inherited runner before stranding the bases loaded. The Nationals led 5-2 going to the ninth and turned to Robert Benincasa for the save.
Matt Lipka hit a line drive to left-center field to lead off the ninth, but in trying to stretch his double to a triple, he was thrown out at third. The next two batters were retired in order and Benincasa collected his seventh save of the season.
Cole (6-3) gave up just two runs, one earned, on two hits for the Nationals and earned the win. Miller suffered the loss for the Hillcats.
Tonight’s game wrapped up an eight-game in nine days road trip for Lynchburg. They will return home to the “Hill City” tomorrow night to face the Myrtle Beach Pelicans at 6:05pm. Tomorrow begins a seven-game homestand for the ‘Cats in which they host Myrtle Beach for three, followed by the Nationals for four. Gates will open at 5pm tomorrow, but if you can’t make it to City Stadium, tune in to the live radio broadcast on 97.9 FM The Planet and online at lynchburg-hillcats.com. The Hillcats On-Deck Show will go on the air at 5:40pm.
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Chris Graham
