Well, sometimes rehab starts do live up to their billing.
Of course, we would expect no less from the “Face of the Franchise” as Ryan Zimmerman went 2-for-3 with a double and made two plays in the field, though he did do his best imitation of a high-A third baseman on the first ball hit to him, which skipped into left untouched on perhaps an in-between hop [insert bitching about Pfitzner field here].
In his first at-bat, Zimmerman blasted a double to the base of the left field wall. In his second, he waited on a fastball and served a line drive to the 3/4 hole between first and second. In his third at bat, he got under a fastball a flew out to center.
Did I not mention the score yet?
Well, that’s because it was a forgettable, yet quite familiar 8-1 loss to Frederick that snapped a four-game winning streak (all on the road, just like the previous and only other four-gamer) and extended the home losing streak to eight games. The tragic number is now one, for those of you who are wondering.
Trevor Holder took the loss for third time in four home starts, allowing five runs in the second inning and eight runs total over five-plus innings. If this sounds familiar, that’s because his home ERA is 10.19, WHIP is 1.81, FIP is 5.99 (on the road those rates are 5.74, 1.23, and 2.55). Unfortunately, the Pfitz’s park effects are historically neutral.
Yes, Holder pitched well once the hole was dug, but one has to wonder how much longer he can stick in the rotation before he’s sent to the ‘pen. Evan Bronson certainly made his case as a replacement, even if he let in both runners Holder left him. He finished the game with four innings pitched, two hits and one walk allowed, and two strikeouts.
Of course, complaining discussing the pitching (or lack thereof) is a Sysiphean exercise when the hitters aren’t hitting as a team. Individually, Justin Bloxom went 3-for-4 with a HR and the lone Potomac RBI and Sandy Leon went 2-for-3 with a double, but minus Zimmerman, that’s just six hits. Eury Perez’s infield single was only other hit.
As aforementioned, the loss dropped Potomac to 13 games behind Frederick and on the brink of mathematical elimination from the first-half race. Paul Demny (2-5, 4.50) takes the hill tonight, opposed by the Keys’ Nathan Moreau (5-3, 3.76).