The Nationals used a gigantic home crowd to keep the Pelicans from sweeping them on Independence Day. Over 7,000 people watched Potomac topple Myrtle Beach 6-3. The Birds now head home, for Mike Hampton's rehab start on Saturday.
For the first time in the series, Potomac took the game's first lead as Marvin Lowrance smacked a Kyle Cofield fastball well over the wall in right field. Lowrance's 11th blast of the year made it 1-0 Potomac, and also marked the first time this season that Cofield has conceded a home run.
The P-Nats added a run to their lead in the second inning to take a 2-0 advantage. With one out, Jhonaton Solano singled on the infield and a batter later he scored on an RBI-double from Michael Martinez to give Potomac the two-run cushion.
Myrtle Beach came storming back in the fourth against P-Nats' starter Jeff Mandel. With one down, Travis Jones tripled into the right field corner. He scored on the very next pitch, a wild one to the backstop with Tyler Flowers at the plate. Flowers preceded to reach on an error and advance to third as Concepcion Rodriguez doubled behind him. Phillip Britton tied the game with a sacrifice fly to right field and Robert Marcial gave the birds a 3-2 lead with an RBI-single to left field on Mandel's first pitch to him.
The game see-sawed again in the bottom of the inning as Potomac tied the score at 3-3. Matt Rogelstad tripled off of the top of the wall in right-center field and scored on a Lowrance single to level the score.
Potomac took control in the sixth inning as they loaded the bases with nobody out before Solano contributed an RBI-single to give the Nats the lead back and chase Cofield from the ballgame. Nick Fellman came on for Cofield, but two of the inherited runners would score to make it 6-3, the last of which came in on a run-scoring single from rehabbing Washington Nationals' catcher Johnny Estrada.
Mandel (3-1) lasted into the seventh inning to claim the win, allowing three runs, of which just one was earned. Both starters factored in the decision as Cofield (6-6) was tagged with the loss for Myrtle Beach.
The Pelicans will open a three-game series with the Wilmington Blue Rocks at BB&T Coastal Field at 7:05 PM on Saturday night. Atlanta Braves LHP Mike Hampton (---,---) will make a re-hab start with the Pelicans against LHP Paul Mildren (0-1, 7.20) for the Blue Rocks.
Email
Facebook
Google
Twitter
Favorites
More
Advertisement