Raquet’s scoreless start leads Potomac Nationals over Pelicans

For the first time in nearly a month, the Potomac Nationals (21-30) strung together consecutive victories with an 8-0 win over the Myrtle Beach Pelicans (18-35) on Wednesday night. LHP Nick Raquet (W, 3-5) turned in his first scoreless start of the year as the P-Nats kicked off their weeklong road trip with a convincing victory.

Raquet pitched 5.0 scoreless innings of three-hit ball, and benefitted from some late run support to open up what had been a close game through the middle innings. 1B Aldrem Corredor led the offense with a solo home run, two doubles and three runs batted in.

After two scoreless innings, Corredor’s solo blast off RHP Alex Lange (L, 1-8) opened the scoring in the third. Lange pitched into the sixth inning, but didn’t receive run support as he dropped his fourth consecutive start.

With a 1-0 lead heading into the sixth inning, Potomac loaded the bases with no outs off Lange and brought home a pair of runs off RHP Alexander Vargas on a single from SS David Masters and a bases-loaded walk from C Jakson Reetz.

RHP Luis Reyes relieved Raquet in the sixth and pitched 2.0 scoreless innings, his sixth consecutive scoreless outing spanning 12.0 frames. He got more insurance in the seventh when Corredor and RF Telmito Agustin doubled home three runs to make the score 6-0.

LF Nick Banks added a solo homer in the eighth and Corredor came home after a double in the ninth to run the score to 8-0. RHP Andrew Istler pitched a 1-2-3 eighth in his Potomac debut, and RHP Jhonatan German worked around a leadoff double in the ninth to complete the third P-Nats shutout of the season.

The P-Nats look to win three straight for the second time this year as they return to action in Myrtle Beach on Thursday night. RHP Andrew Lee faces off against RHP Erich Uelmen in game two of the four-game set. First pitch at TicketReturn.com Field is set for 7:05 pm, with the Potomac broadcast starting at 6:50 with the P-Nats Leadoff Show. You can listen live at potomacnationals.com or on the TuneIn Radio App.