Washington Nationals minor league report: 4/29/19
From staff and wire reports:
Fresno (AAA Pacific Coast League): The El Paso Chihuahuas (17-7) earned their 10th straight win after defeating the Fresno Grizzlies (11-13) 7-6 in 10 innings Monday night. El Paso erased a two-run deficit in the ninth and scored three in extras to continue the streak. Seth Mejias-Brean led the Chihuahuas offense early with a two-run homer in the fourth. Heading to the ninth, a pair of RBI singles by Peter Van Gansen and Jason Voslerknotted the contest at four. In the 10th, El Paso plated three runs from two extra-base knocks. That would seal the deal for the Chihuahuas.
Yadiel Hernandez was a high spot in the Fresno lineup. He blasted a pair of solo shots, finishing the game with four hits, three RBI and three runs. Hernandez expanded his hit streak to six games in the process. Andrew Stevenson, Jake Noll and Brandon Snyder added two hits apiece with Stevenson scoring twice. Taylor Gushue and Matt Reynolds picked up RBI in the defeat.
Austin Adams (0-1) suffered the decision and Gerardo Reyes (1-1) enjoyed the victory after two innings of work. Paolo Espino worked six solid innings for the Grizzlies, punching out six. Derek Self notched two scoreless frames after Espino, fanning four.
Top Performers: Fresno Grizzlies (Washington Nationals)
• LF Yadiel Hernandez (4-5, 2 HR, 3 RBI, 3 R)
• 1B Brandon Snyder (2-5, 2 2B, R)
• CF Andrew Stevenson (2-5, 2B, 2 R)
Top Performers: El Paso Chihuahuas (San Diego Padres)
• 3B Seth Mejias-Brean (1-5, HR, 2 RBI, R)
• C Austin Allen (2-4, 2B, RBI, R, BB)
• SS Luis Urias (1-5, 3B, RBI, R)
ON THAT FRES-NOTE: Outfielder Yadiel Hernandez extended the current team-high hit streak to six games Monday night versus El Paso. In the span, Hernandez is 11-for-24 (.458) with three homers, one double, six RBI, eight runs and three walks. This season, Hernandez has gone deep six times and has 10 RBI.
Harrisburg (AA Eastern League): The Senators won their 20th game on the season Monday night beating the Reading Fightin Phils 7-5. Harrisburg scored three times in the first inning with two coming on a two-run home run by Chuck Taylor. They eventually led 5-1 and 6-2 before hanging on for the win. Jackson Tetreault started and earned the win in his first start with the Senators. James Bourque earned his fifth save on the season. Harrisburg is 20-4 while Reading falls to 11-9 with the loss. The win is the third straight for the Sens on the road trip.
Turning Point
The Senators had a 3-1 lead into the third inning when the game turned in favor of the Sens. With one out, Drew Ward and Tres Barrera reached when Ward was hit by a pitch and Barrera walked. With two outs, Tyler Goeddel reached on an infield single to load the bases. Bryan Mejia, who to that point had struggled at the plate, drove in a pair of runs with a single to give Harrisburg a 5-1 lead.
On Capitol Hill
Jackson Tetreault made his double-A debut for the Senators and went five innings for the win. He retired the side in order in the first inning then allowed a run in the second. He stranded a leadoff double in the fourth and gave up one run in the fifth. Taylor Guilbeau followed and retired the first five batters he faced before allowing three two out runs to score in the seventh. James Bourque pitched the final two frames, striking out four straight at one point, and retiring the side in order in the ninth for his fifth save.
With the Gavel
Chuck Taylor had one hit and it was a big one, a two-run home run in the first inning. Luis Garcia had three hits and scored a run. Rhett Wiseman had two hits and an RBI and Tyler Goeddel chipped in with two hits. Bryan Mejia had a two-run single in the third inning. Drew Ward and Tres Barrera had the other two hits for the Sens. Ward also had an RBI on a groundout.
Filibusters
* The Senators didn’t win their 20th game last year until May 23.
* The Sens are 3-0 against Reading this season.
* Harrisburg has won the first game of every series thus far this season.
* The 20-4 record is the best record after 24 games in modern franchise history.
* All three hurlers for the Senators struck out four batters.
* Coming in to play tonight, the Senators and Reading were the top two teams in team ERA.
* It’s the seventh game this season the Senators have had at least 10 hits.
On Deck
The Senators continue their three-game series in Reading tomorrow night with a 6:45 p.m. first pitch. Harrisburg sends RH Sterling Sharp to the hill opposed by LH David Parkinson.
Potomac (High-A Carolina League): The Potomac Nationals (9-16) took an early lead in Monday night’s series opener in Winston-Salem, but saw DH Luis Robert take command of the game in the middle innings to give the Dash (14-11) a 12-5 win.
Robert finished a double shy of the cycle in a 4-for-5 night, and 1B Jameson Fisher hit his first two home runs of the season as part of a 15-hit assault for Winston-Salem. The game was the first of seven consecutive played between the two teams, with a four-game set in North Carolina followed by a weekend homestand for the P-Nats in Virginia.
Potomac struck first in the second inning off RHP Lincoln Henzman (W, 1-0), turning a leadoff single from 1BKJ Harrison into a run on C Jakson Reetz‘s RBI triple. It was just the second career triple for Reetz, and his first since the 2014 season. Reetz came home on a groundout from 3B Anderson Franco, and the P-Nats led 2-0.
Winston-Salem was quick to answer in the bottom half of the inning off LHP Nick Raquet (L, 1-4), as a pair of errors from 2B Cole Freeman led to an unearned run. They would go on to tie the game in the third when 2BNick Madrigal hit a leadoff double and came home on a wild pitch.
The Dash began utilizing the long ball with two outs in the fourth inning, getting a solo home run from LF JJ Muno and two-run shot from Robert to take a 5-2 lead. Potomac would retaliate in the fifth with a two-out rally of their own, chipping away at the deficit with back-to-back doubles from 2B Osvaldo Abreu and LF Telmito Agustin to bring the score to 5-3.
Though the results were far from his perfect three-inning outing against Potomac two starts ago, Henzman completed 5.0 innings for the first time this season to qualify for the win. After Fisher hit his first home run off Raquet in the fifth, the Dash gave their starter more breathing room with a five-run sixth. Raquet departed after allowing the first two batters of the inning to reach base, and RHP Jhon Romero gave up RBI singles to 3B Yeyson Yrizzari and Robert before Fisher went deep for the second time in as many innings with a three-run shot to make the score 11-4.
DH Aldrem Corredor hit an RBI double off the top of the right-center wall against RHP Codi Heuer in the seventh, but the Winston-Salem bullpen kept Potomac out of reach for the remainder. Heuer and RHP Will Kincanon combined to pitch the last four frames as the Dash added a final run in the eighth off RHP A.J. Bogucki to put the game on ice.
The P-Nats continue their series against Winston-Salem on Tuesday as RHP Andrew Lee makes his first start against RHP Zach Lewis.
Hagerstown (Low-A South Atlantic League): OFF.
