Friday’s News & Notes
| Team | Yesterday | Today | Pitching Probables |
| Rochester | Lost, 6-5 | @ Memphis, 8:05pm | Sampson (4-4, 4.19) vs. Mathews (4-5, 3.49) |
| Harrisburg | Lost, 1-0 | @ Chesapeake, 6:35pm | Choi (6-4, 4.27) vs. De León (0-0, 0.00) |
| Wilmington | Canceled | vs. Aberdeen, 6:35pm | Swan (0-3, 5.03) vs. TBD |
| Fredericksburg | Lost, 5-1; Won, 7-3 |
vs. Carolina, 7:05pm | Polanco (7-8, 3.92) vs. Mercedes (0-0, 21.81) |
Memphis 6 Rochester 5
• Luckham 5IP, 8H, 5R, 5ER, 1BB, 4K, HR
• Brzykcy (L, 0-1) 1⅓ IP, 2H, 1R, 1ER, 1BB, 0K, WP
• Schnell 2-4, R, 2B, HR, RBI
• Pinckney 1-3, R, BB, 2B
• Arruda 1-3, BB
The Red Wings dug themselves out of a 5-0 hole after the 2nd only to be walked off for a 6-5 loss. Kyle Luckham gave up five runs in the 2nd but gutted through five innings, allowing eight hits (one HR) and one walk while striking out four. Zach Brzykcy took the loss on two hits and a walk in the bottom of the 9th. Nick Schnell doubled and homered while Andrew Pinckney doubled and walked to lead the Rochester offense.
Chesapeake 1 Harrisburg 0
• Tolman 5IP, 0H, 0R, 2BB, 5K
• Huff 2IP, 0H, 0R, 0BB, 3K
• Amaral (L, 2-2) 1IP, 1H, 1R, 1ER, 0BB, 1K, HR
• Boisserie 1-3
It was MAGA-MAHA conference on the Prince George’s Stadium scoreboard—nothing but zeroes—until Douglas Hodo took Austin Amaral deep in the bottom of the 8th. Harrisburg had no answer in the top of the 9th to lose, 1-0. It was the sixth straight loss for the Sens. Branden Boisserie broke up the no-hitter for the BaySox with a single with two outs in the 4th. It was the only hit for Harrisburg. Senators starter Erik Tolman walked two over five no-hit innings and struck out five. Chance Huff retired the next six batters with three whiffs. Amaral got the first two batters before losing the no-hitter, shutout, and the game.
Aberdeen vs. Wilmington – CNCLD
Despite (or perhaps because) the game scheduled for a MASN broadcast, they waited almost an entire half hour before pulling the plug on this one. Apparently, the field was unable to absorb the 0.5″ of rain after a the 0.51″ of rain in August.
Carolina 5 Fredericksburg 1 – GM. 1
• Johnson (L, 1-3) 2⅔ IP, 9H, 5R, 5ER, 1BB, 1K, HR, BK
• Olson 2⅓ IP, 0H, 0R, 0BB, 2K, 3-0 IR-S
• Dickerson 2-3, SB
• Petry 1-3, 2B
In the opening game of the doubleheader, Fredericksburg was blown out, 5-1. The force was not with Luke Johnson as the Carolina batters strafed him for nine hits (one HR) and five runs over two and 2/3rds innings to hand him his third loss. Luke Dickerson singled twice and stole a base while Ethan Ptery doubled to pace the FredNats attack.
Fredericksburg 7 Carolina 3 – GM. 2
• Maddox 3IP, 2H, 2R, 2ER, 0BB, 4K, HR
• Minckler (W, 4-6) 1⅔ IP, 0H, 0R, 1BB, 3K, 3-0 IR-S
• Mota 3-4, 3R, HR, 2RBI, SB
• Petry 2-3, R, HR, 4RBI
• Hollifield 0-1, 2R, 3BB
In the nightcap, the FredNats put up crooked numbers in three of six “ups” to hook the MudCats, 7-3. Riley Maddox got the start but gave up two-run homer and two hits while walking none and striking out four over three innings. Ryan Minckler got the “W” while stranding three in the 5th and tossing a scoreless 6th. Jorgelys Mota and Ethan Petry both homered and combined for four runs and six RBI to lead the Fredericksburg offense. Roster moves: LHP Ben Moore (12th Rd. pick), RHP Carson Fischer (NDFA) reassigned from the FCL .
With the win, the FredNats reduced their magic number to one over Carolina and two over Fayetteville:
| TEAM | W | L | GR | M# vs. CAR | M# vs. FAY | M# vs. FBG |
| Frederickburg | 33 | 31 | 3 | 1 | 2 | — |
| Carolina | 31 | 30 | 3 | — | 4 | 5 |
| Fayetteville | 32 | 31 | 3 | 4 | — | 4 |
| Magic Number = (W+L+GR) – (Wins for Team + Losses for Opposing Team). The uneven number of total games is what complicates this equation. In the event of a tie, there are a series of tiebreakers based on head-to-head play in the half as well as won-loss records over the previous 20 games (i.e., Fredericksburg and/or Carolina don’t get the benefit of playing two fewer games to win by .001%) | ||||||
UPDATE: Apparently, I misread the playoff procedures, as the FredNats were declared the second-half winners and will win on percentage points. My apologies for the error.
I was in Bowie for the last two Sens games. Keibert Ruiz looked bad hitting. He had a lot of swings and misses on fastballs 92-94 MPH.
so some would say he’s back to full strength. not me, but some.
Ruiz the last reminder of Rizzos wickedly bad trading intuition.
Is Choi back in rotation out of desperate necessity aka “ leading off another bullpen chorus line evening “?
Like Lara the other night ?
Which is highly worrying. If there was one thing Ruiz was ever good at, it was making contact. He’s now 0 for 8 with 6 Ks. This is highly uncharacteristic.
So, the “King of Soft Contact” is now the “King of No Contact”?
Keibert tries hard and seems like a good guy, but it’s no coincidence that the Nats’ play behind the plate, offensively and defensively, significantly improved since Ruiz has been out. Due to Ruiz signing the one long-term contract in recent Nats’ recent history, Keibert has been given every opportunity to prove that he’s an everyday MLB player, but over parts of six seasons and over 1800 PAs, Ruiz has proven he is not. Again, it’s not just his weak bat, he’s an awful defensive catcher.
Really hope that the Nats’ cut ties with Ruiz in the off-season.
Maddox has good command of his low nineties fastball and his change-up and is not afraid to challenge hitters with both. hung a curve that got hit out and I don’t think he threw that again. if he can get a better sweeper or slider for righties he could be a good middle reliever.
Fischer throws everything down and got a couple to chase. better hitters will force him to bring it up in the zone and we’ll have to see how he adjusts.
Ramirez is caught behind Dickerson and Feliz and now Willets. I hope they can find him regular playing time next year, he has some pop and pretty good plate discipline.
Petry and Mota both hit BOMBS. Mota’s in particular traveled 424 ft, a record for FNats players this season. (watch it here: https://x.com/FXBGNats/status/1963782185351102503). That’s great, but it’s only his 5th of the season. Mota has had a weird year. 2024 was a complete write off, but 2025 has been much more mixed. Some positives: there was a 2 months stretch from May to July where he got hot and batted .391/.467/.489. But that was sandwiched between two extended slumps. A month leading up to that he hit .143/.213/.232 and immediately after a month of hitting .170/.228/.245. He really needs to find some more consistency, because the skills are there (not every can hit a ball 424 ft!). And he’s got a big task ahead of him in 2026 with the big jump to Wilmington that has proven to be insurmountable for Green, Cox, White, Quintana, McKenzie, Cruz, Frizzell, Ross and Dugas, just to name a few, in recent seasons.
love your reference to a MAGA-MAHA conference.
Keith Law had this to say about a recent look at tonight’s Blue Rocks starter:
“he showed his usual combination of elite stuff and way, way below average command. Swan was 94-97 early with five pitches — a slider, cutter, curveball, and changeup or split-change — with the slider as his best pitch when he landed it. The slider was a wipeout offering at 85-86 that should get a ton of chases from righties”
also said that Linan’s injury was not arm related, so that’s good news
A new scouting director and GM will truly out new blueprint on the value of each prospect forward going in system for sure
Swan is such a unique prospect. He’s got all the roughness mixed with potential of a HS draft pick. And yet he’s almost 24 years old.
It’ll be really interesting to watch his trajectory. Seems like he could be a really good reliever.
@Human League: Ruiz is “the last reminder of Rizzos [sic] wickedly bad trading intuition?”
Really? Notwithstanding the Ruiz trade, the one thing that kept the Nats and Rizzo afloat all those years was Rizzo’s overall excellent record with trades. It’s a long, impressive list. Slam him for being slow to analytics (with the subsequent negative impact on the Nats player development), sure. For his draft record, right there with you. But for his trades? C’mon, man.