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P-Nats swept by Winston-Salem

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Potomac NationalsEarly offense from both sides saw a run cross the plate in six of the first eight half innings of the series finale, but a two-run fifth inning propelled the Winston-Salem Dash (71-45, 30-16) to a 6-3 victory over the Potomac Nationals (61-53, 24-23) on Sunday afternoon. The win capped off a three-game sweep by the Dash in a battle of the First Half Champions from the Carolina League’s Northern (Potomac) and Southern (Winston-Salem) Divisions.

The Dash jumped out to a first inning 1-0 lead just two batters into their first trip to the plate against LHP Nick Raquet (L, 2-3). CF Luis Robert led off the bottom of the first inning with a triple, while RF Luis Gonzalez made it 1-0 Winston-Salem with a single. Raquet gave up a hit to the first three batters that he faced, but allowed just one run in the inning.

Potomac and Winston-Salem traded runs in the second inning, as 2B Edwin Lora drew a bases loaded walk from LHP John Parke (W, 4-3), which tied the game, but an RBI single in the home half of the inning from Robert put the Dash back in the lead.

The P-Nats pulled even with a run in the third inning on a sacrifice fly from 1B Aldrem Corredor, and took their lone lead of the game on a sacrifice fly from SS Luis Garcia in the fourth inning, but failed to score over the final five frames. Parke allowed three runs on six hits over five innings.

Trailing for the first time since early in game one of the series, the Dash quickly tied the game in the home half of the fourth inning, as they scored the final four runs of the contest. C Daniel Gonzalez tied the game at 3-3 with an RBI single in the fourth inning, 3B Ti’Quan Forbes gave the Dash a 5-3 lead with a two-run, two-out single in the fifth frame, while Gonzalez launched his first home run with the Dash, a solo blast in the sixth inning. Gonzalez’s home run off of RHP Steven Fuentes made it 6-3 Winston-Salem, the eventual final.

RHP Jacob Condra-Bogan and LHP Taylor Guilbeau each worked a scoreless inning for Potomac, while RHP Blake Hickman, RHP Danny Dopico, and LHP Hunter Schryver (SV, 2) each worked shutout baseball for the Dash.

Off of a four-game losing streak, Potomac will have Monday off, and then begin a four-game series with the Myrtle Beach Pelicans spread over three days. The teams will get the series underway with a doubleheader on Tuesday night, play Wednesday night, and cap off the series on Thursday afternoon.

First pitch at Northwest Federal field on Tuesday is set for 5:00pm. The Potomac broadcast will get underway at 4:45pm with the P-Nats Leadoff Show. You can listen to the Potomac broadcast at potomacnationals.com, at http://bit.ly/P-NatsBroadcast, or on the TuneIn Radio App.

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