With just three balls hit out of the infield, the Potomac Nationals were manhandled by the Keys pitchers and outclassed by their two teenage prospects tonight in Woodbridge.
It’s been fashionable to complain about the veteran-laden Frederick lineup, but 19-year-olds Jonathan Schoop and Manny Machado were simply awesome… and nearly beat the P-Nats all by themselves. In 10 plate appearances, P-Nats pitchers were able to get them out just twice — a grounder to short (Schoop) in the first inning, a foul popup to catcher (Machado) in the eighth inning. In between, they scored four runs, singled twice, walked twice, doubled three times, and drove in two runs.
Oh, it gets worse. The two also combined on defense for 10 assists, two putouts, and turned a nifty 6-4-3 DP in the bottom of the seventh to erase the fourth and final Potomac baserunner. I can only imagine that this must have been what it was like for fans of the 1977 Montgomery Rebels, watching Alan Trammell and Lou Whitaker become of one of the all-time great middle infield combos.
Getting back to Potomac, if you’re thinking three balls out of the infield means three hits, well, yes… but not exactly. That’s two flyouts and a Destin Hood home run to lead off the fourth, the only ball Potomac hit solidly all night long. There were indeed three hits collected, but the other two were a one-out tapper to third base that Steve Souza beat out in the second inning and bunt to the shortstop Machado with two outs in the third inning. Souza would be hit by a pitch in the seventh and be erase, as aforementioned.
Evan Bronson took the loss with three runs given up over four and 2/3rds innings on seven hits and two walks. He was followed Marcos Frias, who went an inning and a 1/3rd, giving up the last two (unearned runs), Trevor Holder, who tossed a two scoreless innings, and Josh Smoker, who worked around a leadoff walk to keep the Keys off the board in the ninth.
Frederick’s Scott Copeland got the win with just the three hits allowed, no walks, and five strikeouts. Ryan Berry retired all six batters he faced to finish out the game.
With a 2-1 lead, the Keys have a chance to take the Divisional Series tomorrow, sending Ryohei Tanaka to the hill while the P-Nats’ Adam Olbrychowski gets the task of forcing a Game Five, which would be held in Frederick on Monday night.