One night after posting season highs in hits and runs, the Fredericksburg Nationals managed just four singles in a 3-0 shutout loss to the Salem Red Sox on Sunday afternoon.
The FredNats dropped five of their six games in Salem, heading home to Fredericksburg with a 4-8 record on their 12-game road trip.
Both starting pitchers performed well, as Jorge Rodriguez (W, 5-3) turned in 5.0 shutout innings for the Red Sox and Michael Cuevas (L, 0-3) matched him until the fifth. With two outs in the bottom of the fifth, Angel Maita drew a walk to set up a two-run homer from Ceddanne Rafaela that put Salem in front for good.
Despite the tough-luck loss, Cuevas completed 6.0 innings for the first time in his professional career to earn his first quality start. He needed only 64 pitches to record 18 outs.
Rafaela tripled in the eighth and scored on a Gilberto Jiménez sacrifice fly to give the Red Sox an insurance run. Ryan Fernandez relieved Rodriguez for Salem, turning in 3.0 scoreless innings, and Devon Roedahl (S, 6) pitched a perfect ninth to nail down the save.
The series finale was completed in two hours and seven minutes, the fastest nine-inning game of the season for Fredericksburg.
Kevin Strohschein had two of the FredNats’ four hits, extending his hitting streak to 12 games.
The FredNats will enjoy an off day on Monday before returning to action on Tuesday for a six-game home series against the Delmarva Shorebirds. First pitch from FredNats Ballpark is scheduled for 7:05, with FredNats On Deck beginning at 6:50 on the FredNats Baseball Network.
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Chris Graham
