One night after a 12-1 loss, their worst home defeat of the season, the Potomac Nationals (42-37, 8-3) responded with their largest home victory of 2016, a 14-1 win over the Wilmington Blue Rocks (32-50, 5-8). Potomac scored all 14 runs before Wilmington recorded an out in the bottom of the fourth inning, and all nine Potomac starters had at least one hit through the first three frames. RHP Whit Mayberry (W, 1-0) cruised through six innings in his first home start, while Wilmington starter LHP Colin Rodgers (L, 2-5) failed to record an out in the third inning.
After a 1-2-3 top of the first inning from Mayberry, the P-Nats plated two runs without an RBI in the bottom of the inning. A single from CF Victor Robles paired with a single by DH Max Schrock put men at first and third base with no outs. Rodgers’ ninth wild pitch of the season plated Robles and put Potomac ahead 1-0. After a single by SS Osvaldo Abreu, which put men back at the corners with no outs, 1B Jose Marmolejos plated Schrock on a double play groundout. C Raudy Read followed with a two-out double but was left at third base, as Rodgers escaped the first down 2-0.
Potomac plated a run in the second inning against Rodgers, as the P-Nats had three more hits and totaled seven through the first two innings. 3B Bryan Mejia doubled with one out in the frame and scored on an RBI single by 2B David Masters. Potomac led 3-0 and Mayberry faced the minimum through the first three innings.
In the bottom of the third, Potomac had its largest single-inning run total of the season, as the P-Nats sent 12 men to the plate and scored nine runs. Rodgers faced the first four hitters in the inning but did not get an out. Abreu led off the frame with a walk and then stole second base. Marmolejos made it 4-0 with an RBI single, while Rodgers then walked Read. LF Alec Keller ended Rodgers’ night with an RBI single, which made it 5-0. Out of the bullpen, RHP Jacob Bodner did not fare any better than the Wilmington starter. Bodner immediately walked RF Dale Carey, which loaded the bases. A passed ball plated Read and made it 6-0, while Mejia struck out for the first out of the inning. Masters plated both Keller and Carey with a two-run single, which made it 8-0, while Robles was hit by a pitch. After Schrock struck out for the second out in the third, an RBI single by Abreu made it 9-0. With two on and two outs, Marmolejos hit his ninth home run of the season, which capped the scoring for the inning, as Potomac led 12-0 after three frames.
Fresh off of the disabled list, LHP Matt Tenuta tried his luck at shutting down the Potomac offense, but the P-Nats quickly dismissed that notion. Keller led off the bottom of the fourth inning with a base hit and Carey followed with a two-run home run, his fifth home run of the season. That made it 14-0 Potomac with no outs in the fourth. After Carey’s home run, the P-Nats had just one base runner the rest of the night, as Read had a single in the sixth inning.
Mayberry easily worked through an offense that scored 12 runs the night before, as the righty faced just one over the minimum through the first four innings. 3B Wander Franco, who had seven RBIs in Monday night’s Wilmington 12-1 win, led off the fifth inning with a single. After Mayberry retired the next two hitters, C Chad Johnson broke up the potential shutout with an RBI single, Wilmington’s lone hit, and at-bat, with a RISP in the game. Mayberry allowed just three hits and struck out six over six innings. Opposite the Potomac righty, Rodgers allowed seven earned runs on nine hits over two+ innings. Bodner allowed two inherited runners to score and was charged with five earned runs over just one inning, while Tenuta allowed two runs over three frames.
Out of the Potomac bullpen, LHP Justin Thomas (SV, 2) tossed three no-hit innings and tallied a rare save when ahead by 13 runs. Six different Potomac starters had two hits, while three starters tallied multiple RBIs. Despite a massive advantage in base runners, Potomac left only three men on base compared to Wilmington’s four. With his first inning single, Schrock picked up a hit for the eighth consecutive game since his call up from Class-A Hagerstown.
Following two blowouts, one a win and one a loss, Potomac will turn to RHP Austen Williams (0-3, 3.00)Wednesday night in game three of the four-game series. Williams, who had a quality start in each of his first three starts with the P-Nats, gave up 12 hits and seven runs in his last outing, a loss to the Myrtle Beach Pelicans. For the Blue Rocks, RHP Josh Staumont (2-9, 5.20) is set to make his second start and third outing vs. Potomac in 2016. Staumont is 0-2 with a 2.25 ERA over 8.0 innings vs. the P-Nats this season. First pitch at Pfitzner Stadium is set for 7:05pm.
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