The Fredericksburg Nationals got a career-long 7.0 innings from Bryan Peña on Friday night, cruising to a 5-2 victory over the Delmarva Shorebirds for their second win in a row.
Peña (W, 1-0) earned his first win in a FredNats uniform, allowing a leadoff homer to Andrew Martinez in the first and a solo blast to TT Bowens in the seventh but nothing else of consequence. The lefty struck out five and allowed only three total hits, recording outs in the seventh inning as a starter for the first time in his professional career.
The FredNats are now 7-6 since starting their inaugural season 0-15.
Trailing 1-0 right out of the gate after the Martinez homer, the FredNats couldn’t solve Griffin McLarty (L, 1-1) until the fourth. Telmito Agustin was hit by a pitch and stole second, Junior Martina singled to put runners on the corners, and Cole Daily delivered his first FredNats hit to tie the game. Leonardo Rodriguez was brought in to face Jake Randa, who brought home a pair with an RBI double followed by a fielding error in the outfield.
Staked to a 3-1 lead, Peña settled into a groove. He retired 14 in a row from the second through the sixth, allowing the FredNats to add an insurance run on a Jake Boone RBI single.
Though the FredNats struck out 19 times in their eight innings at the plate, they managed to scratch across another unearned run in the eighth on an Allan Berríos RBI single. Michael Cuevas (S, 1), making his first mound appearance after almost a month on the injured list, got the final six outs for the save.
The FredNats continue their series against the Shorebirds on Saturday night. First pitch from FredNats Ballpark is scheduled for 6:05, with FredNats On Deck beginning at 5:50 on the FredNats Baseball Network.
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Chris Graham
