Sunday Afternoon in Fredericksburg

It’s not too often you see seven runs scored in a single inning with a single hit, but the Fredericksburg Nationals managed to achieve the “feat” in the 6th inning as they dropped the series finale to Carolina Mudcats, 9-1.

Prior to the meltdown, it was a tight game at 1-1 with Bryan Polanco, who had flirted with both a combined perfect game and a combined no-hitter on Tuesday, giving up a run on a home run in the 2nd, a single in the 3rd, and a walk in the 4th. He struck out five while registering his third no-decision.

Alas, :Polanco was matched by Carolina’s Sam Garcia, who bent but did not break for one run on four hits and three walks over five innings. The FredNats left on six during his five innings and did not take advantage of him tiring in the 5th as he edged close to the 100-pitch mark.

The top of the 6th is where this game was lost. Ryan Minckler retired just one of five batters faced, striking out one and walking four. Kevin Dowdell handed him his beer, gave up a single to the first batter he faced, walked the next two, wild-pitched in a run, and then gave up a sac fly. An error completed the implosion.

The damages? Four runs (all earned) for Minckler in a 1/3rd of an inning, three runs (two earned) for Dowdell and a hole too deep for Fredericksburg to dig out of – though they did put runners on in each of the last four innings. They finished with 12 runners left on, a product of going just 1-for-8 with RISP coupled with seven walks and ten strikeouts.

With the loss—the third straight for Fredericksburg—the FredNats are now in 4th place, four games under .500, and nine games behind the MudCats.