Saturday’s News & Notes
| Team | Yesterday | Today | Pitching Probables |
| Rochester | Won, 4-1 | vs. Toledo, 1:05 p.m. | Ward (0-1, 7.71) vs. Sammons (1-1, 6.00) |
| Harrisburg | Won, 4-0 | vs. Richmond, 6 p.m. | Lord (0-0, 3.86) vs. Birdsong (0-1, 3.38) |
| Wilmington | Won, 5-3 | vs. Greenville, 6:35 p.m. | Cornelio (0-2, 11.81) vs. Mullins (0-0, 4.26) |
| Fredericksburg | Lost, 5-1 | vs. Fayetteville, 7:05 p.m. | Davis (0-0, 7.71) vs. True (0-0, 1.23) |
Rochester 4 Toledo 1
• Herz 5IP, 1H, 1R, 1ER, 0BB, 5K, HR
• R. Garcia (W, 3-0) 1⅔ IP, 0H, 0R, 2BB, 2K
• Barnes (SV, 2) 1IP, 0H, 0R, 0BB, 2K
• Blankenhorn 1-3, R, HR, 2RBI, HBP
• Dunn 1-2, R, BB, RBI
Travis Blankenhorn’s two-run HR highlighted a three-run 6th to break a 1-1 tie as Rochester downed Toledo, 5-1. DJ Herz allowed the lone Mud Hens run on a HR and did not issue a walk for just the second time in his last 41 starts. He struck out five. Rico Garcia picked up his third win in five appearances, walking two and fanning two over an inning and 2/3rds. Jacob Barnes struck out two in the 9th as he notched save #2. The Red Wings managed five hits total while striking out 12 times, led by James Wood and Brady Lindsly with three apiece.
Harrisburg 4 Richmond 0
• Henry 3IP, 2H, 0R, 1BB, 3K, HBP, 61-36 PIT-K
• Knowles (W, 1-0) 3IP, 3H, 0R, 1BB, 2K, WP
• Schoff (H, 2) 2IP, 1H, 0R, 0BB, 2K
• Pineda 1-3, R, 2B, 3RBI
• Witt 1-3, R, HR, RBI
Four Senators pitchers combined to shut out the Flying Squirrels, 4-0, on seven hits. Cole Henry labored through three innings, allowing two hits, one walk, and hitting a batter while striking out three. Lucas Knowles went the next three to pick up the win, giving up three hits and a walk with two whiffs. Harrisburg made the most of its limited opportunities, with Israel Pineda cashing in a pair of two-out walks sandwiched between a Dérmis Garcia single with a three-run double in the 1st. Paul Witt connected for a HR in the 2nd for the third and final Senators hit.
Wilmington 5 Greenville 3
• L. Young (W, 1-0) 6IP, 3H, 0R, 1BB, 8K, HBP
• Peterson (SV, 4) 1IP, 0H, 0R, 2BB, 2K
• Made 2-4, 2B
• McHenry 2-4, 2R, SB
• Lile 1-3, 2R, BB, 3B
Wilmington built a 5-0 lead through five and held off Greenville for a 5-3 win. Luke Young struck out eight and walked one over six scoreless innings to earn his first win of 2024. Carlos Romero, who has yet to have two clean outings in a row, gave up all three runs in the 8th after working around a walk in the 8th. Todd Peterson walked two and struck out two in the 9th to earn his fourth save. Kevin Made singled and doubled while John McHeny singled twice and scored twice to lead the Blue Rocks offense.
Fayetteville 5 Fredericksburg 1
• Susana (L, 0-2) 2⅓ IP, 4H, 4R, 4ER, 2BB, 3K, HBP
• Tepper 4IP, 2H, 1R, 1ER, 0BB, 6K, PO @ 1B
• Dugas 1-3, R, SB
• Ochoa 1-3, K, E(3)
Fredericksburg’s bats remain AWOL as they were nearly shut out again in a 5-1 loss. Jarlin Susana struggled again, knocked from the box after 14 batters and 62 pitches. He gave up four runs on four hits and two walks while striking out three over two and a 1/3rd innings. Gavin Dugas led off the 1st with the first of three (3) singles and scored the lone run with the help of an error three batters later. Fredericksburg drew one walk and struck out 13 times.
Both Hassell and Crews out of the lineup for the 2nd game in a row. Hmmm?
I was going to ask about Crews, but I hadn’t noticed Hassell. Not good…
Interesting that three affiliates play Sunday night games with Monday being a day off
The Crews’ absence for two straight games is noteworthy. So are his struggles. The Hassell development has been slow.
Crews is in DC getting checked out by the doc for an injury to his leg. I haven’t found out about Robert yet.
Digging this small ball offense for Wilmington .
Only the Young can say .. ( Journey lyric .. lol)
It’s still April .. come what May with warmer temps for players muscles . The
Sweet spots on the bat .
Let’s see how Cornelio can rebound off last outing ..
Hey LM, We’ve all seen players sit while a trade is being worked out. The Nats certainly have an overload of outfielders. Maybe they’re working on getting some pitching?
Luke Young reminded me of JZim last night. almost all fastballs in the first then mixed in the rest as the game went on. in control the whole night and fanned the side in his last inning.
Henry on the other hand, looks anxious and at times frustrated. still lacking the command he showed early in his career.
Susana’s line is what it is but I like him working 100% from the stretch this year. patience will be key, both us and him.
I thought the ump was squeezing all pitchers last night. Maybe that’s why Henry was getting frustrated.
Really good outing from Herz, after a couple iffy ones. Interesting that they yanked him after 5 IP and only 63 pitches. He breezed through the 5th, 3 up 3 down on 9 pitches (7 for strikes). Didn’t seem to be showing any signs of fatigue… It’s especially interesting as he’d actually thrown more pitches in his previous two outings, though only made it 4 and 3.1 IP.
A new worrying development: Vaquero appears to have caught Natsitis. Vaquero was one of, I think, 3 watchlist players with strikeout rates below league average and walk rates above average. Well, not anymore. Vaquero is currently striking out at an extreme 48.9% rate. This really came out of nowhere. Hope it’s just a bad slump. Maybe I should coin the phrase TINSTAANPWGPD (“There Is No Such Thing As A Nats Prospect With Good Plate Discipline”), but it doesn’t have the same ring as a TINSTAAPP.