Wang sharp in rehab start in P-Nats win

Chien-Ming Wang provided the pitching and Destin Hood provided the pop as Potomac eased past Wilmington 14-1 on Friday night at Pfitnez stadium in front of 6,911 fans.

Wang was sharp in his second rehab start. He went four innings and didn’t allow a run. The righty shut down the Blue Rocks (4-6) one-two-three to start the game in the top of the first. Wang threw seven pitches in the first and all of them were strikes.

He ran into a small issue in the second when he walked the leadoff hitter, John Whittleman. But the P-Nats (5-5) backed him up with strong fielding. Shortstop Francisco Soriano and second baseman Jeff Kobernus combined for a stellar double play on Ryan Stovall to erase any possible threat.

Again, Wang faced the minimum in the third and fourth. And just like the first, all six pitches he threw in the fourth were strikes. By the end of his outing, Wang topped out at 91 MPH. His final line was four innings pitched, one hit, two walks, two strike outs, and no runs.

Outfielder Destin Hood was the dominate bat for Potomac on Friday night. The Mobile, AL native actually started the evening 0-2, but broke out in the fifth. With Jeff Kobernus at first, Hood smacked an outside fastball from Elisaul Pimental deep to right field and gone for his sixth home run of the season. The drive game Potomac a 5-0 lead.

Hood continued his big night in seventh with a double, and the put an exclamation mark on it in the eighth with a three-run home run to left. All totaled, Hood went 3-5 with two home runs, a double, and five RBIs. It was his first career multi-home run game.

Although the game was already out of reach, the eighth was the big offensive inning for Potomac. The P-Nats scored seven runs in the inning, the most they’ve scored in a single inning all year long.

Catcher Brian Peacock led off with a solo home run and eventually came up again and collected a two-RBI triple. Peacock, Hood, Cutter Dykstra, Francisco Soriano, Justin Bloxom, Steven Souza, and J.P. Ramirez all reached base in the inning. Potomac took its lead from 7-1 to 14-1 in the eighth.

The 14 runs tie a season high. The P-Nats put up two touchdowns in Frederick on May 19th.

Also of note, Francisco Soriano hit his first home run of the season in the fifth. The shortstop went opposite field to right for a solo shot.

The series with Wilmington continues Sunday evening with a 6:35 first pitch. Lefty Danny Rosenbaum goes for the P-Nats (4-3, 2.57). The Blue Rocks counter with righty Tim Melville (7-6, 4.23).