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Potomac Nationals

Potomac Nationals 2016 Game Notes at Frederick Keys

August 30, 2016 - Carolina League (CarL1)
Potomac Nationals News Release


Potomac Nationals-WAS (70-61 Overall, 36-29 Home, 34-32 Road, 37-32 N. Div.) VS. Frederick Keys-BAL (66-67 Overall, 29-34 Home, 37-33 Away, 30-30 N. Div.)

Road Game #67 of 69 TODAY'S PITCHING MATCHUP Nationals RHP Austen Williams (4-5, 4.32) VS. Keys RHP David Richardson (4-6, 4.11) Nymeo Field (5,500) TUE 8/30/16 7:00 PM

Wednesday, August 30th VS. FREDERICK KEYS 7:00 PM POT RHP J.D. Martin (0-2, 6.00) vs. FRE RHP Franderlin Romero (6-4, 6.16) Thursday, August 31st VS. FREDERICK KEYS 7:00 PM POT RHP Boone Whiting (10-3, 3.58) vs. FRE RHP Jon Keller (0-2, 3.18) Friday, September 1st VS. MYRTLE BEACH PELICANS 7:05 PM POT LHP Hector Silvestre (0-0, 3.38) vs. MB TBD

LAST TIME OUT...Down to their final out, the Lynchburg Hillcats (82-51, 37-26) had the tying runs on base and the winning run at the plate down 7-5 in the bottom of the ninth. RHP Ryan Brinley (L, 4-1), who had given up just two runs over his first 28 outings this season, gave up a walk-off three run home run to CF Conor Marabell, the outfielder's first home run of the season. Marabell's home run gave Lynchburg an 8-7 win and put the Hillcats one game ahead of the Potomac Nationals (70-61, 36-27) in the Northern Division with seven games to play. Marabell hit the walk-off home run one game after nearly tying the game with a two-out home run in the ninth inning Saturday night in Lynchburg's 8-6 loss. Potomac had control for most of the game but continued to play with fire against the top scoring offense in the league. A night after the Hillcats had 20 at-bats with RISP in a loss, they went 6-19 with RISP in the walk-off win. The Hillcats trailed on three different occasions, and never led until Marabell's walk-off home run. The P-Nats scored first for the third time in the series, as they plated a run in the second, third and fourth innings against LHP Sean Brady (ND). In the second frame, RF Dale Carey singled with one out and advanced into scoring position on a single by LF Matt Page. C Jake Lowery followed with an RBI single, as Potomac led 1-0. CF Victor Robles led off the third inning with a triple into the left field corner, and after 2B Austin Davidson grounded out, Robles scored on an RBI single by SS Osvaldo Abreu. In the fourth inning, Carey singled with one out and Lowery had his second two-out RBI hit, as his double made it 3-0 Potomac. On the mound for the P-Nats, LHP Matthew Crownover (ND) allowed only two singles and did not allow a run over his first three innings. After consecutive starts without giving up an earned run, Crownover gave up a pair of earned runs in the fourth inning. 1B Anthony Santander led off the frame with his league leading 40th double of the season, and he scored on a double by LF Dorssys Paulino. RF Taylor Murphy followed with an RBI single, as the Hillcats cut the deficit to one run, but Crownover stranded Murphy at third base as Marabell hit into an inning-ending double play. Crownover issued a leadoff walk to 3B Yonathan Mendoza in the fifth inning, while a single, paired with an error by 3B Kelvin Gutierrez loaded the bases with one out. Crownover struck out DH Bobby Bradley, but a weakly hit ground ball base hit to third base off the bat of Paulino tied the game at three. Potomac jumped back ahead in the sixth inning against Brady, who allowed four runs on nine hits over 5.1 innings.

Gutierrez led off the frame with a single and moved to second base on a wild pitch. After Brady struck out DH Bryan Mejia, the Hillcats called upon LHP Billy Strode. Strode walked Carey and gave up a go-ahead RBI single to Page. The lead for Potomac was short-lived, as RHP Jorge Pantoja gave up a run in the bottom of the inning. Marabell doubled with one out, the second of his four hits in the game, and the centerfielder scored on a two-out RBI single by SS Mark Mathias. The game was tied at four through six innings. The Red, White, & Blue took their third lead of the game with a run in the seventh inning against RHP Justin Garcia. After the righty quickly got the first two outs of the inning, Abreu hit a towering blast over the left field wall, the shortstop's second home run of the series. The P-Nats took a 5-4 lead into the stretch and added on two insurance runs against RHP Dominic DeMasi (W, 2-1) in the ninth. Robles singled to left field to start the ninth inning and then stole second base. Davidson reached on a fielding error by SS Yu-Cheng Chang, who had come in as a defensive replacement to start the inning. With men on the corners, a wild pitch by DeMasi plated Robles and made it 6-4. Abreu followed with an RBI single, which put Potomac on top 7-4 with no outs in the ninth. Gutierrez grounded into a fielder's choice but took second base on a passed ball. Mejia popped out and Carey grounded out, as the P-Nats left a man in scoring position. In the loss, Potomac went 4-16 with RISP and left eight men on base. After two shutout innings from RHP Gilberto Mendez, the P-Nats turned it over to Brinley in the ninth. Santander led off the bottom of the ninth with his second double of the game, his 41st double of the season, and he moved to third base on a groundout by Bradley. After Paulino walked, Murphy plated Santander with a fielder's choice groundout.

With two outs, C Alex Monsalve hit an opposite field single on the first pitch from Brinley, which brought Marabell to the plate as the winning run. Despite no home runs for the centerfielder in 2016 for the Hillcats, and no home runs allowed by Brinley for Potomac this season, Marabell crushed a ball over the right field wall for a walk-off three-run home run, as the Hillcats came from behind and earned a stunning 8-7 victory. The loss was just the third (52-3) for Potomac when leading after eight innings. It was Brinley's second blown save of the season and the first time he has given up multiple runs in an outing for the P-Nats. Robles, Abreu, and Page each had three hits for Potomac in the loss, while Abreu and Lowery each had multiple RBIs.

INCHING TOWARDS THE PLAYOFFS...What was a dwindling lead and a scare for the P-Nats just to get to the playoffs has quickly gone in the opposite direction. After falling in the final two games of the series to the Salem Red Sox, which dropped Potomac a second half high two games behind the Hillcats and had the P-Nats just 4.5 games ahead of the Frederick Keys, the P-Nats have won consecutive games vs.

Lynchburg to level the standings. Despite a heartbreaking walk-off loss to the Hillcats on Sunday, Potomac needs just one win over the Keys to clinch a playoff berth.

SO LONG, FAREWELL...Early Thursday morning, Potomac 2B Max Schrock was traded to the Oakland Athletics for LHP Marc Rzepczynski, who will join the Major League bullpen. Schrock, who departs Potomac as the team leading hitter (.341), played in 54 games for the P-Nats and hit five home runs with 29 RBIs. Schrock started his Potomac career with a 16-game hit streak, and had three game-winning hits, including two walk-off hits, in a span of just over a week. Schrock ended his tenure with the P-Nats with at least one hit in six straight games, a span that included three multi-hit efforts. The second baseman had 27 multi-hit games in 54 games for the Red, White, & Blue.

AN ALL-STAR AGAIN...RHP Ryan Brinley was named to the Carolina League Postseason All-Star team on Saturday. Brinley, a 27th round pick by Washington in the 2015 MLB Draft was a mid-season All-Star as well. Brinley has a 0.52 ERA and 15 saves in 28 outings for Potomac. The Potomac closer is third in the league in saves and has far and away the best ERA of any pitcher that has pitched a significant number of innings for the P-Nats in 2016.

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