Last Night in Fredericksburg

After a disappointing loss on Friday night, the FredNats wasted little time getting right back on the proverbial horse—or was that House—for a 7-1 win over Delmarva.

The 20-y.o. celebrated his birthday a day early with his eighth double and sixth HR, which capped off Fredericksburg getting the memo that they were to score in at least four of the first five innings, a script followed by Harrisburg and Wilmington on the road and ignored by Rochester. Guess who lost on Saturday night?

In all seriousness, the FredNats won because the pitching was there. Luke Young made his first career start and turned in four solid innings, flirting with a no-no for three and a 1/3rd innings before giving up a single. He walked none and struck out four, keeping the Shorebirds batters guessing – often by pitching backwards with changeup and curves before using a 93-94 m.p.h. heater to [fudge] with their timing.

Juan Abreu lost the shutout in the top of the 5th when Shorebirds scored a run on a single after he issued a pair of one-out walks, though he struck out two to finish the frame. While not a very good inning, it was nevertheless good enough to get the “W.”

Franklin Marquez scattered five hits over two shutout innings in the 6th and 7th while Marquis Grissom Jr. shut down Delmarva in the 8th and 9th .

Johnathan “Tuda” Thomas also contributed to the eight-hit, six-walk assault with single, walk, and three stolen bases – the last coming after the diminutive outfielder took a 97-mph heater to his back, keeping pace with his “rival.”

With the win, Fredericksburg is now 1½ games out of 3rd place, which is likely the best they can do in the first half with no more games against the 1st and 2nd place teams and less than 20 games left. But when the standings reset, the FredNats could be well-positioned to make a run as all but six games in the second half are against teams that are currently .500 or worse.

This afternoon, the two teams close out the seven-game series with the FredNats leading 5-1. Jarlin Susana returns to the rotation after missing a turn, opposed by Bradley Brehmer for Delmarva.