Washington Nationals Minor League report: 4/8/19
From staff and wire reports:
Fresno (AAA Pacific)
Monday: For the second time in five games, the Fresno Grizzlies (4-1) walked off on the Reno Aces (1-4) 7-6 Monday morning. Pinch hitter Raudy Read lined a double to the left-center gap, plating Yadiel Hernandez in the ninth, sending the crowd home happy. Hernandez reached base in every plate appearance he had (five), notching a homer and three runs.Carter Kieboom enjoyed a four-hit game, blasting both a triple and double. He is the first Fresno hitter to have a four-hit game in 2019. Jacob Wilsonlaunched his second bomb of the season and added two hits in the contest.
Reno’s Abraham Almonte hammered his first big fly of the season, a two-run clout in the third. While former Grizzlies outfielder Andrew Aplin supplied a pair of hits and had the tying RBI single in the ninth inning.
Fresno’s Tanner Rainey (1-0) earned the decision while Jimmie Sherfy (0-1) suffered the loss for the Aces.
Top Performers: Fresno Grizzlies (Washington Nationals)
• SS Carter Kieboom (4-5, 3B, 2B, RBI, R)
• LF Yadiel Hernandez (3-3, HR, RBI, 3 R, 2 BB)
• C Raudy Read (1-1, 2B, RBI)
Top Performers: Reno Aces (Arizona Diamondbacks)
• RF Abraham Almonte (1-2, HR, 2 RBI, R, 3 BB)
• CF Andrew Aplin (2-5, RBI, R)
• LHP Marc Rzepczynski (1.1 IP, 2 BB, 1 K)
ON THAT FRES-NOTE: During Monday’s Grizzlies’ game, outfielder Andrew Stevenson was optioned to Fresno by Washington. Michael A. Taylor will take over the roster spot vacated by Stevenson, re-joining the Nationals following his rehab assignment at Double-A Harrisburg. Outfielder Hunter Jones will go on Fresno’s injured list to make room for Stevenson.
Tuesday: Off.
Harrisburg (AA Eastern League):
Monday:
Summary
The Senators took game one of their series with Hartford Yard Goats 3-2 on a walk off double by Luis Garcia with two outs in the ninth. Up until that point all the runs had scored on home runs. Rhett Wisemanhit two solo home runs for the Senators while Tyler Nevin hit a game tying two-run home run for Hartford in the seventh inning.
Turning Point
With one out in the ninth inning James Bourque hit for himself against Reid Humphreys. Burke fell behind in the count but eventually worked a walk with one out, putting the winning run on base. Zach Collierfollowed with a bunt single and Garcia capped the inning with the game winning double.
On the Capitol Hill
Tyler Mapes started and went four innings. He allowed a hit to the leadoff batter of the game then retired 11 batters in a row to finish his outing. Jordan Mills tossed two scoreless innings striking out four and allowing just a single hit. Ronald Pena took over in the seventh and allowed the two-run home run by Nevin, but Pena bounced back and struck out three of the final four batters he faced. Bourque pitched the ninth inning and pitched out of a first and third two out jam with a strikeout.
With the Gavel
The Senators managed eight hits with two of them going the distance by Rhett Wiseman . The home runs were his third and fourth on the season. Luis Garcia also had two hits including the game winning double. The Sens had four of their eight hits in their final two at bats.
Filibusters
Drew Ward had a two-out single in the eighth inning to extend his hitting streak to five games. With Wiseman’s two home runs he’s also hit in all five games. The walk-off win is the Senators second in five wins this season. The pitching staff struck out a season-high twelve batters.
On Deck
The Senators and Yard Goats play game two of their three-game series Tuesday night at 6:30 p.m. LH Ben Braymer makes his double-A debut for the Senators.
Tuesday:
Summary
The Senators raced out to a 5-2 lead Tuesday night and cruised to a 7-3 win over the Hartford Yard Goats. Ben Braymer made his double-A debut on the mound and pitched five innings for the win. The Senators pounded out 14 hits including three hits by three different Senators. The game took 2:43 and it was in front of 2,256 at FNB Field.
Turning Point
After the Yard Goats tied the game in the top of the 3rd, the Senators tallied three runs in the bottom of the 3rd to take a 5-2 lead. Austin Davidson and Drew Ward both provided run scoring doubles with the final run of the inning scoring on an error.
On Capitol Hill
Ben Braymer made his double-A debut going five innings for the win. He struck out four and allowed four hits. Joan Baez followed Braymer and was solid, going three innings and striking out six on 50 pitches, 31 strikes. Aaron Barrett closed the game with a perfect ninth inning.
With the Gavel
Three Senators, Luis Garcia, Austin Davidson and Tres Barrera had three hits each and Rhett Wisemanchipped in with a pair of his. Adrian Sanchez homered, and Davidson and Wiseman both had two doubles. Drew Ward drove in a pair of runs with a double and a ground out.
Filibusters
Drew Ward and Rhett Wiseman both extended their hitting streaks to six games. The 14 hits for the Senators are a season-high. Rhett Wiseman and Drew Ward both had two doubles. The Senators had a hit in seven of their eight trips to the plate.
On Deck
The Senators and Yard Goats play the final game of their three-game series Wednesday at noon. RH Wil Crowetakes the ball for the second time this season. He’s opposed by LH Jack Wynkoop for Hartford.
Potomac (High-A Carolina League):
Monday: Postponed.
Tuesday: With just seven hits combined over both games of Tuesday night’s doubleheader, the Potomac Nationals (3-3) were swept by the Carolina Mudcats (4-2). The visitors took game one 7-2 behind a five-run third inning, and game two on the backs of a leadoff home run from CF Joantgel Segovia.
Tuesday’s opener was scoreless through the first two innings, as RHP Malvin Pena (L, 0-1) retired the first six batters that he faced. The debuting right-handed starter’s night fell apart after that, as the first three batters of the inning reached base safely and eventually scored. LF Zach Clark‘s two-run double put Carolina on top 2-0, while C Payton Henry notched his own two-run double. DH Mario Feliciano ended Pena’s night with an RBI double, as Carolina led 5-0 after 2.5 innings. The Mudcats tagged Pena for five runs on four hits over just 2.2 innings.
Potomac got a run back in the third inning against RHP Christian Taugner (W, 1-0), as DH Cole Freeman got hit by a pitch and scored on an RBI double from LF Telmito Agustin . After 1B Aldrem Corredor drew a walk,CF Nick Banks lined into an inning-ending double play. Taugner allowed just one run on three hits over six innings in the victory.
The Mudcats added a run in the fourth inning on a home run from RF Rob Henry off of RHP Carlos Acevedoand another on a sacrifice fly from 3B Dallas Carroll an inning later. Potomac put the final run of the game on the board, as RF Jack Sundberg plated C Jakson Reetz with a groundout. Sundberg’s RBI brought Potomac within five at 7-2, but that was as close as Potomac came in the loss.
Things got off to a rough start for Potomac in game two, as Segovia homered off of RHP Luis Reyes (L, 0-1) on the second pitch of the game. The leadoff home run put Carolina ahead for good, as Potomac managed just three hits in the 6-0 shutout loss. Carolina led 2-0 before Potomac stepped to the plate for the first time.
The P-Nats had an opportunity to get on the board in the opening inning against RHP Matt Smith (ND), as Corredor doubled and DH Anderson Franco walked with two outs, but Sundberg took a called third strike, which ended the inning. Potomac had just two more baserunners the rest of the game, as the Mudcats pitching staff faced just one over the minimum over the final six innings.
Already ahead 2-0, Carolina added a run in the third inning on an RBI single from Feliciano, and three more, all charged to Reyes, in the fifth. Reyes departed for RHP A.J. Bogucki with the bases loaded and one out in the frame, while all three inherited runners scored. In the loss, Reyes allowed six runs on nine hits in 4.1 innings.
Potomac went in order against RHP Matt Hardy (W, 1-0) in the fifth inning, sent the minimum to the plate against RHP Cody Beckman in the sixth inning, and went in order against RHP Rodrigo Benoit in the final frame.
Off of the doubleheader sweep, Potomac will need a win on Wednesday in order to avoid a series sweep. RHPKyle Johnston (0-1, 15.43) is set to start for Potomac. The right-handed starter retired the first seven batters that he faced on Opening Night but failed to make it through three innings. For the Mudcats, RHP Bowden Francis (0-0, 4.50) will aim to tally the sweep. Francis struck out eight and walked just one in his 2019 debut.
Hagerstown (Low-A South Atlantic League):
Monday: After jumping out to a quick lead, Joan Adon let four runs score in the fourth to lead to a 4-3 loss to the Lakewood BlueClaws at First Energy Park Monday night.
Adon (L, 0-1) cruised through the first three innings, but ran into some problems in the fourth. Alec Bohm led off the inning with a single before Matt Kroon worked a one out walk and Jimmy Smith stroked a single to load the bases. After that, Abrahan Gutierrez lined a single to left to score Bohm and Kroon. Next, Jake Holmes knocked a base hit through to center to plate Smith. Yerwin Trejo reached on a fielders choice to allow Gutierrez to score and give Lakewood (2-3) a 4-2 lead.
Adon pushed out of the inning by forcing Jonathan Guzman to hit into a double play.
Hagerstown (1-4) captured the lead by loading the bases in the third inning. The first run of the game scored when Jacob Rhinesmith drew a bases loaded walk to score Cody Wilson. With the bases still loaded, Gilbert Lara hit a sacrifice fly deep enough for Gage Canning to come home and put the Suns up 2-0.
The offense tried to push ahead late again, but came up just short. Wilson drew a walk and stole his third base of the game, which put him in a position for Israel Pineda to single and score the center fielder and cut Lakewood’s lead to 4-3.
The bullpen was superb to keep the game tight. Jackson Stoeckinger got out of a jam with runners on second and third and nobody out in the fifth without allowing a run. The lefty spun 1.2 innings without allowing a run while striking out a pair.
Leif Strom made his season debut for the Hub City. The 21st round draft pick went through two innings unscathed and wrung up four batters in the effort.
The undoing for Hagerstown continued to be their play in the middle innings. This season the Suns have been outscored 16-5 in the fourth through sixth innings.
Tuesday: Despite the bullpen giving up just one run in four innings of work, the Suns fell 6-3 to the BlueClaws at FirstEnergy Park Tuesday evening.
Tomas Alastre (L, 0-1) breezed through the first two frames before losing the plate in the third. With one out, the righty walked Alec Bohm, allowing a single to Malvin Matos and walking Matt Kroon without recording an out.
With the bases loaded, Alastre threw a wild pitch that allowed Bohm to score and the other two runners to advance. The starter finished the at-bat with a strikeout, but with two away, he threw another wild pitch to allow Motos to score. After that, Abrahan Gutierrez lined a base knock to right to plate Kroon and advance Lakewood’s (3-3) lead to 3-0.
In the fifth, Kyle Marinconz singled and advanced to third via an error and a Jose Sanchez base hit before Cody Wilson earned his first RBI of the season, launching a sacrifice fly to center to usher Marinconz in and cut the BlueClaws’ lead to two.
The Blueclaws struck back in the home half of the inning though, scoring two runs, one due to an error with no outs, the next coming home during a 6-4-3 Hagerstown (1-5) double play. After five frames, the BlueClaws led 5-1.
Hagerstown did not score again until starter Ethan Lindow (W, 1-0) exited the game and reliever Colton Eastman (S, 1) entered. In the seventh, Sanchez laced a two-run double to right to score Marinconz and Wilson and bring the score to 5-3.
After three scoreless innings of work, Chandler Day gave way to Jhonatan German, who allowed the final run of the game to score for the BlueClaws in the eighth.
The Suns conclude their series with Lakewood tomorrow at 6:35 pm at FirstEnergy Park. LHP Tim Cate (0-1, 0.00 ERA) gets the nod for Hagerstown, while Lakewood counters with righty Tyler McKay(0-0, 9.82 ERA).
Top photo: Harrisburg Senators
