P-Nats Drop the Cats
July 23, 2009 - Carolina League (CarL1)
Lynchburg Hillcats News Release
Potomac scored six runs in the top of the 12th and walked away with an 8-3 victory over Lynchburg in the rubber match of a three-game set at City Stadium Thursday night. The Hillcats will take on Frederick at Harry Grove Stadium Friday night. First pitch is scheduled for 7 p.m.
The P-Nats jumped out to a two-run lead in the top of the first. Dan Nelson drew a leadoff walk from Lynchburg starter Ronald Uviedo, who made his first start with the Hillcats since being placed on the disabled list with tendonitis in his right arm June 19. After Uviedo retired Michael Martinez, Francisco Plasencia smacked a two-run home run over the right field wall to give Potomac a 2-0 advantage.
Potomac's 2-0 lead held up through the first five frames as P-Nats starter Hassan Pena limited Lynchburg to two hits and no runs in his first start with Potomac since being promoted from Hagerstown.
The Cats struck for two runs in the bottom of the sixth. After Potomac reliever Jesse Estrada retired the first two Lynchburg batters in the inning, Matt Hague ripped a double to right field. Kent Sakamoto drove in Hague with an RBI double and Jared Keel followed with an RBI double that scored Sakamoto and knotted the game at 2-2.
After both teams failed to score in the seventh, eighth, and ninth innings, Lynchburg appeared to win the game in the bottom of the 10th. With two out in the frame, Jordy Mercer belted a pitch from Potomac's Dan Leatherman that sailed over the left field fence.
Home plate umpire Kolin Kline initially ruled that the ball stayed fair and was a home run. But after consulting with base umpire Mike Goebel, Kline changed his ruling to foul ball, erasing Mercer's walk-off blast. Mercer struck out to end the inning and was subsequently ejected from the game by Kline.
Potomac ended the stalemate in the 12th. Martinez hit a leadoff single off Cats reliever Chris Cullen to begin the inning. Martinez stole second and advanced to third on a groundout from Plasencia. After Cullen issued an intentional walk to Michael Burgess and a walk to Danny Espinosa, Tim Pahuta delivered a two-run single to put Potomac in front 4-2.
Cullen retired Devin Ivany, but allowed an RBI single to Aaron Seuss. Boomer Whiting reached on a hit by pitch to load the bases and Dan Nelson followed with a bases-clearing triple to give Potomac a commanding 8-2 advantage.
Lynchburg scored a run in the bottom of the 12th, but could not overcome the five-run deficit.
Osvaldo Rodriguez (1-0) picked up the win in relief for Potomac while Cullen (4-2) was charged with the loss.
The Hillcats will attempt to bounce back from a 2-4 homestand against Frederick in the opener of a three-game set Friday night. Game time is set for 7 p.m. at Harry Grove Stadium.
Tune in to FM 105.5 KD Country or online at www.kdcountry.com or www.lynchburg-hillcats.com for all the live action beginning at 6:40 p.m. Friday.
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