P-Nats Shut Out in Win, Score Two in Loss

Potomac and Lynchburg split a doubleheader Monday at Pfitzner Stadium. The P-Nats won Game One 8-7, but fell short 5-2 in Game Two. Potomac still owns a one-game advantage over Wilmington in the Carolina League Northern Division second-half standings.

Spotted an 8-2 lead to start the third inning of Game One, which was a continuation of the Aug. 4 contest at Lynchburg, the P-Nats narrowly escaped with an 8-7 win.

Potomac starter Marcos Frias, five days removed from his start in Lynchburg, was able to pick up where he left off with the Hillcats. But he surrendered two of his four earned runs with no support from the P-Nats lineup. Still Frias picked up the win, allowing five runs, four earned, on eight hits in seven innings across a five-day span.

Potomac reliever Clayton Dill held the Hillcats to one unearned run on one hit in the eighth. Justin Phillabaum picked up the save despite allowing an earned run on two hits in the ninth.

Potomac failed to record a run on just four hits, but picked up the win anyway thanks to a fast start back on Aug. 4. The P-Nats sprinted out to an 8-2 lead via 11 hits in the first two frames in Lynchburg.

Game Two of Monday's double-dip was more similar to the final seven innings of Game One than to the first two.

Lynchburg jumped out to a 2-0 lead in the first. Facing major-league-rehab Garrett Mock with two out, Neftali Soto singled to left. On the very next pitch, Denis Phipps blasted a two-run shot to left, giving the Hillcats a 2-0 lead.

Steve Lombardozzi led off the bottom of the frame with a single to center and later scored on an RBI-single by Mike Burgess, cutting the lead to 2-1. Burgess tied the game in the third with a solo home run to right. But after a two-out single by Bill Rhinehart in the third, Lynchburg starter Blair Carson and relievers Justin Freeman and Donnie Joseph combined to retire the next 13 P-Nats batters to finish the seven-inning contest.

Kyle Day was hit by a pitch to start the fourth, then scored on a two-out single by Jordan Wideman. Lynchburg added two insurance runs in the seventh to seal the 5-2 win.

Carson earned the win for Lynchburg while Mock picked up the loss for Potomac. Joseph earned his 13th save of the season.

Potomac and Lynchburg face off again Tuesday at 12:05 p.m. Potomac right-hander Adrian Alaniz is set to oppose Lynchburg righty Jordan Hotchkiss. Gates for the Tuesday matinee open at 11 a.m.