Potomac swept a doubleheader from Kinston on Friday night at Pfitzner Stadium and takes over first place in the Carolina League.
The P-Nats second half record is 14-8, and they’ve won five straight games.
In game one of the doubleheader, P-Nats starter Sammy Solis pitched his way to a new career-high in strikeouts, helping Potomac win 5-3.
The lefty from the University of San Diego opened up the game with a one-two-three inning, including two strikeouts. He hit a bump in top of the 2nd, when he allowed the first two batters, Jeremie Tice and Abner Abreu, to hit solo home runs. But Solis stayed composed and retired the next three hitters in a row to end the inning.
The 2010 2nd round pick moved well through the next several innings, adding strikeout after strikeout to his total. Solis started the 4th inning with back-to-back Ks, giving him seven and tying a season and career high. The next three men were his only other struggle on the evening. Tyler Cannon, Anthony Gallas, and Roberto Perez all hit bloop singles to score one run for Kinston and tie the game at three. But Solis returned to the mound in the top of the 5th to strike out two more Indians, giving him his final total of nine.
The big offensive inning of the game for Potomac came in the bottom of the 6th. With the game tied at 3, the P-Nats had the heart of the order coming up. Destin Hood led off with a titanic blast to left field that soared almost as high as the scoreboard. It was Hood’s eighth home run of the season, tying him for second on Potomac with Justin Bloxom. But not for long.
Bloxom came up after Hood and hit a big fly to left field as well. The back-to-back home runs gave Potomac a 5-3 lead and the eventual final score.
Neil Holland came on in the 7th to close out the game, and clinch Sammy Solis’ third win in as many starts for Potomac.
Game two was another strong pitching performance for the P-Nats.
Evan Bronson started the game just like Sammy Solis did – a one, two, three inning with two strikeouts. Also similar to Solis, Bronson was touched up a little bit in the second. First baseman Chase Burnette launched a two-run home run to give Kinston a 2-0 lead. But after that, Bronson was strong and didn’t allow another run.
Potomac played small ball most of the night in game two against Kinston knuckleballer Steve Wright. The P-Nats first run came in the bottom of the second. First baseman Steven Souza reached on a hit-by-pitch and moved up to third on back-to-back steals. Second baseman Cutter Dkystra brought him home with a base hit up the middle and cut the lead in half, 2-1.
Potomac tied in the game in the fifth without a hit. Shortstop Francisco Soriano led off with a walk. After stealing second, he advanced to third when Kinston starter Steve Wright tried to pick him off, but no one was covering the bag and the ball went into centerfield. Soriano completed his run around the bases when Wright threw a wild pitch and he raced home with the game-tying run.
Potomac finally took the lead in the bottom of the sixth. J.P. Ramirez started the inning with a single and was replaced by pinch runner J.R. Higley. Unfortunately, Higley had to leave the game after a couple pick-off moves by Wright. P-Nats manager Matt LeCroy went to his bench and brought in Jeff Kobernus. Kobernus quickly stole second base and moved up to third when the throw-down sailed into center.
Three batters later, Cutter Dykstra grounded out off of new pitcher Kyle Landis to score Kobernus and give the P-Nats a 3-2 lead.
The bullpen combination of Josh Smoker, Marcos Frias, and Joe Testa was excellent, allowing no runs and only hit in two and third innings.
Potomac starts a series with the Lynchburg Hillcats tomorrow evening at the Pfitzner Stadium. Paul Demny will throw the first pitch for the P-Nats at 6:05 pm.
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Chris Graham
