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MLN Newswire - www.mlntherawfeed.com - WOODBRIDGE, Va.— The Potomac Nationals were in perfect position to tie the score in the bottom of the ninth inning Tuesday night at Pfitzner Stadium.
Michael Martinez was standing on third base with no outs after his RBI
triple trimmed Frederick’s lead to 8-7, but he was stranded as the Keys
abruptly halted the comeback and held on to win by one.

It was remarkable that Potomac was even close to tying the score after
Frederick was in front with a comfortable 8-3 lead heading into the bottom
of the eighth. But in fitting fashion the P-Nats mounted a two-out charge
with three runs. With the bases empty, Andrew Lefave drew a leadoff walk
followed by three consecutive hits by Dee Brown, and newcomers Michael
Burgess and Stephen King. Burgess drilled a two-RBI double and was 2-4 on
the night with three RBI, and King’s subsequent RBI triple brought Potomac
to within 8-6.

The bottom of the ninth had the fans at the Pfitz on their feet in
anticipation the Nationals would complete the comeback. However, with
Martinez standing at third and nobody out, reliever Freddy Deza induced
Dan Lyons’ pop-up to shallow center field. Then, left-hander Ryan
Rodriguez entered to face fellow lefty Francisco Plasencia. Plasencia hit
a sharp ground ball to a drawn in Frederick infield, but second baseman
Miguel Abreu threw a strike to Justin Johnson who tagged out Martinez at
the plate. Rodriguez retired Lefave on a groundball for his third save of
the season sealing the win.

Frederick powered its way to a big lead early in the game thanks to three
home runs all coming off of Erik Arnesen. With the Nationals leading 2-1
in the top of the third, Brandon Snyder blasted a two run homer regaining
the lead for Frederick. Billy Rowell’s solo shot in the fourth extended
the Keys lead to 4-2, and the long ball would continue. In the top of the
fifth, Chris Vinyard unloaded for his team-leading 15th homer of the year,
a three-run shot to straight-away center field that made it 7-2. Arnesen
(2-2) allowed seven runs over five innings and struck out five but
absorbed his second straight loss.

Jhonatan Solano hit his second big fly of the season in the bottom of the
fifth. Jack Spradlin and Edulin Abreu tossed four innings of relief. Abreu
allowed an unearned run in the eighth.

The Potomac Nationals became just the eighth team in the 31-year history
of the Alexandria/Prince William/Potomac franchise to win at least 70
games with their win Monday. The last time the franchise netted at least
70 wins was 1998 when it was still known as the Prince William Cannons.
Monday’s victory marked the first time the franchise won 70 games in a
season since changing its name to Potomac in 1999. The most wins in a
season came in 1982 when the Alexandria Dukes won 80 games.

The series finale with the Keys is tomorrow afternoon at Pfitzner Stadium.
After missing his last start, left-hander Ross Detwiler (6-8, 5.16) will
take the mound for the P-Nats opposite Kyle Schmidt (4-4, 3.87).

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