Down 3-0, the Potomac Nationals got back-to-back-to-back singles to load the bases in the bottom of the 7th.
Then the #8 hitter (Cody Dent) struck out swinging. So did the #9 hitter (Narciso Mesa), albeit on a check wwing. Then—if you;ve been playing along at home, you know what’s coming—the leadoff man flailed and failed for the third whiff and the end of the inning.
Frederick would tack on two in the top of the 8th, as Potomac inexplicably (well, maybe not — they’ve got seven starters and five relievers on the staff right now) sent an ineffective Justin Thomas out for a fourth inning of work, where he was predictably lit up for two more runs to put the game out of reach at 5-0.
The P-Nats would break up the shutout with a run in the bottom of the 8th, as Anthony Rendon drew a leadoff walk and scored on John Wooten’s subsequent double for the game’s eventual 5-1 outcome.
Phillips Valdez got the start but struggled with his command, walking three as he wobbled through four scoreless innings. Thomas came on in the 5th and worked around a leadoff walk to retire the side, but gave up the winning runs — with an “assist” from Drew Ward’s 21st error in 77 games — in the 6th to garner the loss.
The P-Nats matched the Key with eight hits, with Wooten and Grant DeBruin both going 2-for-4 with a double, but were an abysmal 1-for-14 with RISP and left on eight runners in the loss, which was their third straight and ninth in ten games to fall back into the Carolina League North cellar at 12-15 in the second half.
Potomac now hits the road for six games — three against Salem, three against Myrtle Beach — before they return to the Pfitz next Friday.