P-Nats slug to 6-5 victory over Blue Rocks

The Potomac Nationals (15-10) scored in just one inning on Tuesday night, but it was just enough to pull out a 6-5 win over the Wilmington Blue Rocks (11-13).

Remarkably, the Potomac Nationals were the first team to put a run on the board for the first time in 11 games.

After 2.1 scoreless innings for Wilmington starter Gerson Garabito (L, 1-2), DH Telmito Agustin broke the scoreless tie with a solo home run to right field, his second home run of the season. After Garabito picked up the second out of the inning, the rally continued for the P-Nats, with SS Carter Kieboom reaching on an error and RF Juan Soto blasting a no doubt home run to right-center field. Soto certainly did not disappoint in his first home game as a P-Nat, finishing the day 2-4 with a run scored and two runs batted in.

Garabito was still not out of hot water in the third, as back to back walks to 1B Ian Sagdal and LF Rhett Wiseman gave way to C Jakson Reetz’s second home run of the year. Reetz’s three-run shot would be the final batter that Garabito would face, ending his day after 2.2 innings of work, his shortest outing of the season.

RHP Wil Crowe (W, 4-0) would cruise through his first five innings of work, but could not work his way out of the sixth. After giving up singles to SS D.J. Burt and CF Khalil Lee, LF Brandon Downes battled his way to a two-out bloop single to cut the deficit to 6-2. After a two-out walk to the next batter, LHP Hayden Howard would come in to the game and strikeout the first Blue Rock he faced for the final out of the inning.

In the first pitch from Howard in the top of the seventh, DH Chase Vollot smacked his third home run of the season to bring Wilmington a run closer.

A scorelss eighth from both offenses kept the lead at 6-3 for Potomac with LHP Jordan Mills coming back out for the ninth. Mills struck out the first two batters of the inning, but walked Burt and gave up a single to 2B Gabriel Cancel. Down to their last out, Khalil Lee drove home both runners with a two-run triple down the right field line to cut the lead to 6-5. With 3B Emmanuel Rivera stepping up to the plate with the game-tying run just 90 feet away, RHP Jordan Pantoja (SV, 2) came in to record the final out of the game to secure the win.

After their season-high fourth consecutive victory, the P-Nats stand five games over .500, their high-water mark of the 2018 season. The three-game series against the Blue Rocks continues on Wednesday night, with LHP Matthew Crownover (1-2, 3.49) taking the ball for Potomac, squaring off against Wilmington’s RHP Arnaldo Hernandez (2-0, 1.35).

First pitch on Wednesday night is set for 7:05pm. The Potomac broadcast will get underway at 6:50pm with the P-Nats Leadoff Show. You can listen to the Potomac broadcast at potomacnationals.com or on the TuneIn Radio App.