A night after the Potomac Nationals (33-34 Overall, 15-18 Home) responded from a sweep at the hands of the Myrtle Beach Pelicans (36-33 Overall, 18-17 Road) less than two weeks ago in Myrtle Beach, SC with a doubleheader sweep of their own, the Pelicans answered right back in similar fashion Saturday night in Woodbridge.
Myrtle Beach got dominant bullpen work in game one and a stellar starting outing in game two. The Pelicans’ pen allowed just one run on three hits over 4.2 innings in the doubleheader opener, while RHP Erick Leal (W, 9-3) allowed just two runs over six innings in the back half of the twin bill.
In Friday’s doubleheader sweep, the P-Nats fell behind early in both games but came back to win. Saturday night, Potomac fell behind early in both games and never managed to even tie the game.
In his second start with the P-Nats this season, RHP Austen Williams (L, 0-2) was the tough luck losing pitcher once again. The righty allowed two runs on four hits over six innings, his second straight quality start in a loss. Williams faced just one over the minimum through the first three innings, but SS Gleyber Torres led off the fourth inning with a solo home run over the left field wall, his eighth home run of the season.
Down 1-0 after five innings, Williams got the first two outs quickly in the sixth before the Pelicans made it 2-0 with a two-out rally. Once again it was Torres, as the shortstop singled to left field and then scored on an RBI double into the by 2B Ian Happ. Williams got the final out of the sixth, while RHP Tommy Peterson worked around a walk and pitched a scoreless seventh.
RHP Trevor Clifton (ND) was effective but inefficient over 2.1 innings in the game one start for Myrtle Beach.CF Andrew Stevenson led off the bottom of the first inning with a 14-pitch at-bat that resulted in a walk, whileSS Osvaldo Abreu then drew another free pass. With two on and nobody out, 1B Jose Marmolejos grounded into a double play, while 3B Drew Ward took the third walk of the inning. C Raudy Read flied out to left field, which ended the frame. It was Potomac’s best scoring threat over the first five innings.
Clifton struck out Stevenson in the third before the Pelicans went to the bullpen. Clifton threw 60 pitches in the no-decision. Out of the bullpen, RHP James Pugliese (W, 1-2) allowed just one hit over three innings. The righty retired nine of the first 10 men that he faced before Marmolejos doubled with one out in the sixth inning. Myrtle Beach went back to the bullpen, as LHP Jordan Minch entered and gave up an infield single to Ward. With men at the corners, Read’s sacrifice fly to centerfield cut the deficit to one, but Potomac left the tying run in Ward at third base. RHP Ryan McNeil (SV, 6) came on for the Pelicans in the seventh and got LF Alec Keller to ground out. 2B Bryan Mejia singled, which put the tying run on base, but on a 3-2 pitch, RF Dale Carey struck out, and catcher Tyler Pearson threw out Mejia at second base, which ended the game.
Game two got off to a similar start for Potomac, as RHP Luis Reyes (L, 3-7) struggled to throw strikes over his five-inning outing. Reyes gave up a double and walked one in the first inning but escaped. The righty then gave up a single and walked a man in the second, but also posted a zero, as the game remained scoreless through two innings.
Myrtle Beach had the only runs of the game in a four-run third inning, as the Pelicans sent eight men to the plate despite only two hits. Reyes issued back-to-back walks to CF Charcer Burks and Torres before Happ had an infield single, which loaded the bases with nobody out. 1B Gioskar Amaya hit a sacrifice fly to centerfield, which plated Burks and made it 1-0. 3B Jason Vosler made it 2-0 with an RBI double to right field, while Happ scored on a wild pitch. LF Daniel Spingola capped off the scoring with a sacrifice fly, as the Pelicans led 4-0, the eventual final, after 2.5 innings. Reyes allowed four runs, all earned, on five hits, and the righty walked four over five innings in the loss.
For the Pelicans, Leal shined over six-shutout innings. The righty struck out a season high seven and allowed just five hits. Potomac only threatened in the fourth and fifth frames, as the P-Nats did not have a man reach scoring position in any other inning.
The home half of the fourth began with back-to-back base runners, as Marmolejos singled and Ward walked. With two on and nobody out, Leal struck out CF Drew Vettleson. With one down, 3B Khayyan Norfork struck out, while Mejia popped up to 2B Andrew Ely and ended the inning. In the fifth frame, Potomac got back-to-back one-out singles from SS David Masters and Stevenson. Once again, Leal escaped, as he got groundouts from Keller and Marmolejos.
Out of the pen in game two, LHP Matthew Spann kept Potomac in the game with two-shutout innings, but the Potomac offense failed to muster any offense. RHP Daury Torrez closed out the Myrtle Beach win with a perfect seventh inning, as Potomac fell in game two 4-0.
The P-Nats totaled just one run on nine hits in the doubleheader sweep at the hands of the Pelicans. Potomac went a combined 1-10 with RISP and left on 12 in the doubleheader.
With a doubleheader sweep for both sides, Sunday’s first half finale represents a rubber match in the five-game series. LHP Matthew Crownover (0-2, 6.60) is set to make his fourth Potomac start. In his P-Nats debut on June 4th, the lefty allowed five runs on 10 hits in a loss at Myrtle Beach.
For the Pelicans, RHP Jeremy Null (2-3, 3.41) is set to get the start. Null picked up a victory over Potomac on June 7th, as the righty allowed three runs and struck out six over 6.2 innings. The final game of the first half is slated to start at 1:05pm.
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