A three-run 6th broke open a 2-2 game as the P-Nats fell again to Wilmington, 8-3.
It was the first time the same opponent had beaten Potomac consecutively since May 18-19, which was part of a three-game sweep in Winston-Salem. The last time they had lost to back-to-back games was nearly a month ago, when Frederick beat them 7-6 in Woodbridge on June 9 and Carolina won 11-3 in Zebulon.
This, of course, is the problem with such a prolonged streak of winning baseball — especially at the minor-league level in an eight-team league. It’s a wonder that this hasn’t happened sooner with such frequency and familiarity between the seven other teams. It’s hard to dominate the same seven teams, especially when it’s not unusual to play each other on back-to-back weekends.
Blake Schwartz took the loss for this one, giving up five runs (four earned) on eight hits, no walks, while striking out just one over five and a 1/3rd innings. The one K is always a troubling sign, as it’s extremely difficult to succeed with that much contact, especially for a pitcher that relies heavily on the gap in speed between an average fastball and plus changeup.
Suffice it to say, the bullpen wasn’t any better (three runs over three and 2/3rds innings) but neither was the offense. In the aggregate, eight of nine batters hit safely and collected 11 hits total. But it when it mattered most? Not so much — just 1-for-11 with runners in scoring position, resulting in 10 men left base.
Adrian Nieto continues to be as hot as the weather, going 2-for-5 with a run scored to extend his hit streak to six games and on-base streak to 14 games. Perhaps he’s nursing some small injuries, but since Wilson Ramos has come and gone the 23-y.o. Floridian has been the DH, thus one cannot help but wonder if this is to help him maintain this success.
The four-game series (and seven-game homestand) concludes this evening with a matchup between Brian Rauh (0-0, 3.86) and Kellen Moen (1-1, 4.35), with Potomac looking for the series split and stay in first place, as the consecutive losses have shaved the lead over Wilmington to just a ½ game.