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Stevenson, McMahon shine in EL marathon

Nats' No. 5 prospect, Rockies' No. 8 combine for 10 hits, nine RBIs
Andrew Stevenson has logged multiple hits in six of 10 Eastern League games this season. (Patrick Cavey/MiLB.com)
April 18, 2017

By the time Andrew Stevenson tallied his third hit in the eighth inning Monday night, he couldn't help but recognize he was in the midst of a memorable performance. "You're kind of realizing as the game's going on, but you're not really thinking too much about it, because you know you still

By the time Andrew Stevenson tallied his third hit in the eighth inning Monday night, he couldn't help but recognize he was in the midst of a memorable performance. 
"You're kind of realizing as the game's going on, but you're not really thinking too much about it, because you know you still might be able to go get a few more," the fifth-ranked Washington prospect said.

Box score
As it happened, the 22-year-old outfielder was able to get a couple more. In pacing Double-A Harrisburg through a seesaw game to a 16-14 win in 13 innings at Hartford, he went 5-for-7 with a double, four runs scored, three RBIs and a walk. The five hits matched a career high Stevenson reached once before as a pro -- in a Nov. 7, 2016 Arizona Fall League game.
But he wasn't alone on that plateau. Ryan McMahon, the Rockies' No. 8 prospect, set his career high with a 5-for-7 showing, and he matched a personal best and set a Yard Goats franchise record by collecting six RBIs. He also finished within a double of the cycle, scored three times and walked.
"I'm exhausted," the 22-year-old third baseman admitted after the five-and-a-half hour affair. "You feel good about your personal performance for sure, but the most important thing is the win. It would have been nice to win that crazy fiasco, or whatever happened tonight. It was long and interesting -- that's for sure."
The victory did make it all worth while from where Stevenson was sitting.
"It was fun to get a win out of it," he said. "You play all those innings, and it's great to be able to come away from it with a 'W.'"
Batting atop the Senators order, the 2015 second-rounder collected an opposite-field single on a grounder to left field in the third inning and dropped base knocks up the middle in the fifth, eighth and ninth. His 12th-inning two-bagger to left contributed to a two-run rally.

"It was a cool experience. A lot of guys did a good job up there in order for me to get the opportunity to get that many at-bats," he said. "When they threw me some offspeed stuff, I did my best to stay on it, and when they threw me the heater, I tried to do the same. When they gave me something I could handle, I made sure to put my best swing on it, and fortunately, a lot of them fell in for hits."
Hartford -- which scored four times in the ninth to send the game into extras -- answered Harrisburg's 12th-inning rally with a pair of runs.
"You're just like, 'Let's try to pull this out,'" Stevenson said. "There aren't much butterflies or anything like that. It's more, 'Let's pull this out.'"
Despite the result, McMahon's team enjoyed the ride.
"On our side, it was pretty awesome. Everybody stayed in the game," the 2013 second-rounder said. "There was a lot of fight in our guys out there. It was kind of a team-growing moment, honestly. How much everybody was in that fight ... it was pretty fun actually."

His three-run game-tying jack to right-center in the ninth added to that fun. After striking out in his first two at-bats, he pulled a line single into right in the sixth, rocketed a three-run triple to center in the seventh and walked in the eighth. He was aware, coming into his at-bats in the 12th and 13th, that a double would get him a cycle. He singled to left and then to right.
"People kept telling me [about the cycle], but I was putting it on the back burner," he said. "I was more focused on trying to win the game."
His last at-bat was a 10-pitch battle with right-hander Derek Self, and he admitted it was a challenge to stay locked in.
"To be honest, a little bit. I kept checking back in, taking a deep breath," McMahon said. "I refocused myself a couple times, because as the night goes on, I was getting more and more tired."
After he got aboard with one out, the native of Southern California had no trouble imagining more dramatics. 

"The guys behind me were swinging it really good," he said. "I liked our chances going up against that pitcher. I thought we were going to tie it up again or maybe take it home, but it didn't work out that way unfortunately."
Alec Keller, batting directly behind Stevenson for the Senators, went 4-for-7 with two doubles, a homer, four RBIs and two runs.
The Yard Goats' Max White, who entered as a pinch-hitter in the fifth inning, was 2-for-3 with three runs, an RBI and three walks.
Self was untouched but for McMahon's single, striking out two over a frame to pick up the save.

Josh Jackson is a contributor to MiLB.com. Follow and interact with him on Twitter, @JoshJacksonMiLB.