FredNats Falter Late, Fall 4-2 to Shorebirds

Salisbury, M.D. - The Fredericksburg Nationals gave up two runs in the bottom of the 8th, falling 4-2 for the Delmarva Shorebirds in the first loss of the series.

In the bottom of the 1st, Shorebirds scored for the first time since the 3rd inning of the series opener. It ended a streak of 25 scoreless innings. Jhomnardo Reyes walked to start the inning, advanced to second on a throwing error from the pitcher Landon Harmon, then scored on a Carlos Sanchez sacrifice fly to make it 1-0.

Harmon finished his day with 4 IP, 1 H, a career-high 4 BB, 4 K, 1 R, 0 ER. The 3rd round pick did a great job at working around trouble, something he hasn’t had to deal with often as a pro. The 11th-ranked prospect in Washington’s system struckout the final two batters he faced, with a man in scoring position.

Right after Harmon’s day was done, the FredNats offense woke up. In the top of the 5th, Jamison Jones worked a leadoff walk, then scored the tying run on an Avery Ortiz RBI double down the third base line. Ortiz then scored on a Manny Cabrera sacrifice fly, which gave the FredNats a 2-1 lead. The Shorebirds tied the game on a wild pitch in the bottom of the 7th.

In the bottom of the 8th, Boucher allowed a leadoff single, then a walk. The Shorebirds made the most of it, as Zach Konstantinovsky allowed both inherited runners score for Delmarva to go ahead 4-2. The FredNats put the tying man on in the 9th, but stranded runners on 1st and 2nd.

With the loss, the FredNats drop their 50th game of the year, but do still sit 23 games above .500. The Nationals go for the series win tomorrow. RHP Marlon De La Cruz is set to start against RHP Collin McKinney. First pitch from Perdue Stadium is set for 7:05 PM.