Nathan Karns struck out 10 batters and earned the win as the Potomac Nationals shut out the Myrtle Beach Pelicans 3-0 Friday night at TicketReturn.com Field. It was the third shutout of the year for Nationals pitchers.
Pelicans starter Kyle Hendricks was stellar tossing six scoreless innings giving up three hits while striking out three. Only one P-Nat reached second against Hendricks who didn’t allow multiple base runners in any inning.
The Nationals got the scoring started in the seventh against reliever Ben Henry. With one out, David Freitas singled. He scored on a double off the left field wall by Zach Walters to give the P-Nats a 1-0 lead. Walters advanced to third on a wild pitch and scored with Michael Taylor’s sacrifice fly to open the lead to 2-0.
Nathan Karns was a very sharp for Potomac. Over six and two-third innings, Karns would strike out ten batters allowing just four hits and walking two. He did leave he game in the seventh with the Pelicans having runners at first and second with two outs. Jimmy Barthmaier came on to strike out Edwin Garcia to end the threat and keep the 2-0 lead.
Potomac added a run in the eighth with Adrian Sanchez knocking a single to right scoring Kevin Keyes who led off the inning with a double. The run opened up the lead to 3-0 for the Nationals.
Rob Wort tossed the last two innings striking out four and giving up no runs. It’s Wort’s fifth save of the year.
Karns (1-2) earned his first Carolina League win in his third and longest start in a Potomac uniform. Henry (1-1) took the loss for Myrtle for the first time this year.
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Chris Graham
