Washington Nationals minor league report: May 7
From staff and wire reports:
Fresno: (AAA Pacific Coast League): The Fresno Grizzlies (16-16) won for the fifth time in six outings Tuesday night in their first game with the Sacramento River Cats (16-16) in 2019. Since the beginning of the 2015 season, Fresno is 43-22 against Sacramento and 26-7 on the road at Raley Field.
The Grizzlies began the first and second innings in identical fashion. Collin Cowgill started the game with a double, scoring the next batter on a Jacob Wilson RBI single.
An inning later, Matt Reynolds led off with a double, scoring a man later on Jose Marmolejos‘s run-scoring base hit. Matt Reistetter also chipped in a RBI single, plating Marmolejos.
Reynolds led off the fourth with a solo homer, his third of the season, which proved to be the game-winning hit, as Fresno’s fourth run.
Wilson smacked a two-run shot to straightaway center field in the eighth, retaking the club lead with his eleventh of the season and breaking a tie with Yadiel Hernandez. Wilson also leads the Grizzlies with 35 RBI (three on Tuesday) in only 29 games played.
Kyle McGowin (3-2) turned in his third consecutive quality start for Fresno, allowing three earned runs over six innings with six strikeouts.
A Chris Dominguez RBI double in the ninth wrapped the night’s scoring. A pair of solo homers (Mike Yastrzemski & Levi Michael) provided the bulk of the Sacramento offense.
Top Performers: Fresno Grizzlies (Washington Nationals)
• 3B Jacob Wilson (3-4, HR, 3 RBI)
• SS Matt Reynolds (2-3, HR, BB, 3 R)
• CF Collin Cowgill (2-3, 2B, BB, 2 R)
Harrisburg: (AA Eastern League): The Senators lost a late lead and the game 3-1 to the Binghamton Rumble Ponies Tuesday night.
Drew Ward homered in the sixth to give the Senators a 1-0 lead, but the Sens could not hold the lead.
Sterling Sharp was good again, going six shutout innings but ultimately took a no-decision.
The Ponies tallied three in the eighth, and the final 10 Senators were retired in the loss. Harrisburg falls to 23-7, while Binghamton improves to 17-10.
Turning Point:
With the Senators leading 1-0 going into the top of the eighth and Joan Baez on the hill, Andres Gimenez homered on a 1-0 pitch to tie the game. Binghamton would get back-to-back singles and go on to score two more runs to win the ballgame 3-1.
On Capitol Hill:
Sterling Sharp started and was outstanding. He went six innings, allowing just five hits, while walking one and striking out seven. He worked around a two on and no out situation in the third and a first and third, one out situation in the fourth. He finished his outing with back-to-back strikeouts with runners at second and third in the sixth.
Joan Baez pitched a scoreless seventh before running into trouble in the eighth. He allowed a home run, followed by back-to-back singles, ultimately taking the loss.
Taylor Guilbeau followed and allowed the two runners he inherited to score. Ronald Pena pitched out of trouble in the ninth, stranding the bases loaded with two strikeouts.
With the Gavel:
Drew Ward provided the only run-scoring offense for the Senators Tuesday night with a solo home run over the ribbon board in left field. The home run gave the Sens a 1-0 lead in the bottom of the sixth. It was the seventh home run of the season for Drew.
Tyler Goeddel had a double, while Ian Sagdal and Tres Barrera both had singles in the fourth inning.
Potomac: (High-A Carolina League): The Potomac Nationals (11-19) fell 2-1 in the opener of their six-game road trip on Tuesday night, taking a brief lead in the middle innings but allowing a comeback to the Frederick Keys (14-16).
LHP, Nick Raquet, turned in a solid outing, recording outs in the sixth inning for the first time this season, but ultimately receiving the loss.
Potomac took the field for the first time since Friday night, with weather cancellations on both Saturday and Sunday and a scheduled off day on Monday. The loss was their second straight and ended a stretch of two consecutive wins away from Woodbridge.
While it took some time for the bats to wake up against Frederick RHP, Brenan Hanifee, Raquet (L, 1-5) was sharp from his first inning onwards. The lefty did not allow a hit until CF Kervin Moesquit’s double to start the third inning. He ultimately ended up stranding the speedy runner at third thanks to a well-timed double play and strikeout.
The P-Nats had plenty of opportunities in the early innings, stranding two runners on base in four consecutive innings against Hanifee.
Their best chance came in the fifth, when RF, Nick Banks, led off the inning with a single and found his way to third with the bases loaded and no outs. DH, Aldrem Corredor, lifted a fly ball to left that was deep enough to score the run, but Banks tagged from third early and was called out on an appeal. Hanifee worked out of the jam, and kept the game scoreless heading to the sixth.
Rehabbing Orioles reliever, Richard Bleier (W, 1-0), made his first Keys appearance in the sixth, allowing a double to C, Jakson Reetz, on the first pitch of the inning. The veteran almost escaped the predicament, but allowed a two out RBI single to CF, Gage Canning, to put Potomac ahead 1-0.
Hagerstown (Low-A South Atlantic): OFF
