Washington Nationals Minor League Report: April 11
From staff and wire reports:
Fresno (AAA Pacific Coast League): The Salt Lake Bees (2-5) ended the Fresno Grizzlies (5-2) four-game winning streak with a 5-4 win Thursday afternoon from Smith’s Ballpark. Carter Kieboom notched the first Grizzly run in the opening inning with an opposite field homer to right. He would later plate Collin Cowgill on a double to center in the third. A balk in the fifth pushed the Fresno lead to 3-0.
The advantage would disappear in the bottom of the eighth when Salt Lake hung a five on the scoreboard. Bo Way and Matt Thaisshighlighted the inning with each tripling. Jared Walsh and Jose Rojas added insurance singles for the Bees in the frame.
In the ninth, the Grizzlies rocked three straight hits, including another RBI by Kieboom. Despite the late effort, Taylor Cole induced two ground balls to end the threat, earning the save. Jeremy Rhoades (1-0) picked up the decision and Jimmy Cordero (0-1) suffered the loss. Fresno starter Austin Voth took a no-decision despite five shutout frames, punching out seven and allowing two base runners (1 BB and 1 hit).
Top Performers: Fresno Grizzlies (Washington Nationals)
• RHP Austin Voth (5.0 IP, 1 H, 0 R, 1 BB, 7 K)
• 2B Carter Kieboom (3-4, HR, 2B, 3 RBI, R, BB)
• RF Collin Cowgill (1-2, 2B, 3 R, 2 BB)
Top Performers: Salt Lake Bees (Los Angeles Angels of Anaheim)
• 1B Matt Thaiss (3-4, 3B, 2B, RBI, R)
• LF Bo Way (1-3, 3B, 2 RBI, R)
• DH Jared Walsh (1-4, RBI, R)
ON THAT FRES-NOTE: Starting pitcher Austin Voth continued his early-season dominance with five scoreless innings Thursday at Salt Lake. Through two starts, the right hander is 1-0 with an ERA of 1.80 (2 ER over 10.0 IP). In that stretch, he has allowed 10 hits while only walking one. He has struck out 16 batters, tying him currently with Las Vegas’ righty Daniel Mengden for the PCL-lead. The former standout at the University of Washington countered against fellow Husky alumni in Forrest Snow during Thursday’s contest. Voth’s next start is scheduled for Tuesday versus Salt Lake at Chukchansi Park.
Harrisburg (AA Eastern League):
Summary
The Harrisburg Senators tossed their fifth no-hitter since 1987 in defeating the Bowie Baysox 2-0. Erick Fedde, Jordan Mills and Aaron Barrett combined to keep Bowie hitless. The Senators scored runs in the first and fourth inning and made them stand up. The Sens move to 7-1 on the season with their fourth win in a row while the Baysox drop to 2-5.
Turning Point
Typically, in a no-hitter there are one or two plays that save the day and Thursday night was no different. With two outs in the eighth inning, CF Zach Collier chased down a drive to make a sliding catch and preserve the no-hitter.
On Capitol Hill
Erick Fedde tossed the first six innings. He struck out six and walked one. The walk came on a 3-2 pitch. He threw 79 pitches, 50 strikes. Jordan Mills followed and tossed two hitless innings allowing just a walk. Aaron Barrett pitched the ninth and struck out the first batter and induced two groundouts.
With the Gavel
Rhett Wiseman extended his season-opening hit streak to seven games with three hits and he knocked in a run. Drew Ward drove in the first run with a sac fly in the first inning. Austin Davidson had a hit in the first inning to move him to 10-for-16 on the season.
Filibusters
The no-hitter was the fifth for the Senators since rejoining the Eastern League in 1987. The Senators won their season-high fourth win in a row. The no-hitter was the first for the Senators since 5/9/2013 when Paul Demny and Ian Kroll combined to no-hit Binghamton.
On Deck
The Senators and Baysox continue their four-game series Friday night at 7:05 p.m. The Sens send RH Sterling Sharp to the hill against RH Hunter Harvey for Bowie.
Potomac (High-A Carolina League): The Potomac Nationals (3-5) fell in their first road game of the season on Thursday, dropping their series opener against the Winston-Salem Dash (4-4) by a score of 8-6 after a go-ahead two-run home run from Dash center fielder Luis Robert .
The home run capped off a 3-for-5 night for Robert, who now leads the Carolina League with five home runs and 14 runs batted in on the young season. It snapped a four-game losing streak for Winston-Salem, and in turn extended Potomac’s early skid to four games.
The P-Nats entered play Thursday coming off back-to-back shutouts at the hands of the Carolina Mudcats, but quickly erased any memory of their offensive struggles with a three-run first off Dash starter John Parke . Telmito Agustin ‘s RBI single put Potomac on the board, Aldrem Corredor followed with an RBI groundout, and Nick Banks capped off the rally with an RBI double.
Agustin’s hit was the first of many for the Nationals left fielder, who turned in a 4-for-5 night. It marked the first four-hit game of the season for any Potomac batter.
The lead would not last long, however, as P-Nats starter Grant Borne lasted just four batters before leaving due to injury. The lefty retired one batter, and ultimately let in three runs on Tyler Frost ‘s RBI double and Craig Dedelow ‘s RBI triple.
Andrew Lee was pressed into duty early, getting the final two outs of the first inning and ultimately going 4.2 frames of solid relief. Lee allowed a run in the second on an RBI single from Nick Madrigal , and another run came home in the third after Zach Remillard ‘s leadoff double, but the righty kept the game in check through the middle innings.
Potomac got a run back on a Jakson Reetz sacrifice fly in the third inning, but saw their deficit stretched to 6-4 when Robert tripled off Hayden Howard (L, 0-1) and came home on a wild pitch. The game appeared to turn in the seventh, when Reetz hit a two-out, two-run double to tie the game 6-6.
After an uneventful seventh, Howard returned for the eighth and allowed a leadoff single to Carlos Perez before giving up the game-winning Robert homer. Jeremy McKinney got the final two outs of the eighth inning, but the P-Nats went down quietly against Dash reliever Luis Ledo (W, 2-0) to finish the game.
Hagerstown (Low-A South Atlantic League): The Hagerstown Suns used a five-run first inning to send the crowd home happy in the home opener with an 8-2 victory over the Asheville Tourists Thursday night at Municipal Stadium.
Hagerstown’s (3-5) bats were hot early, putting up five runs on four hits. Gage Canning and Israel Pineda hit back-to-back singles. Jacob Rhinesmith walked to load the bags with Suns. Asheville’s starter, Shelby Lackey (L, 0-1) missed the mark with Gilbert Lara at the plate. Lackey issued a bases-loaded walk to bring in the Sun’s first run of the night. Soon after, KJ Harrison kept his bat hot with a two-run double to make it 3-1 Hagerstown. Pablo O’Connor brought in a run on a groundout and Kyle Marinconz finished off the busy inning with an RBI double for a 5-1 advantage.
Asheville struck first in the top of the first first. Willie MacIver brought home Terrin Vavra with a sac fly following a Grant Lavigne single. Vavra launched a double to start.
Zeroes on the board followed until the sixth when the Suns found the stroke again. Following a Harrison single, Marinconz hit his second double of the evening for the sixth run of the night. Harrison reached third on a groundout and brought home by Cody Wilson . Wilson hit a line drive right to Tourist reliever PJ Poulin . Poulin deflected it but the deflection gave Harrison plenty of time to score for run number seven.
Both clubs scored runs in the eighth frame. Asheville scored one a MacIver double while Hagerstown touched home plate with a sac-fly by Marinconz.
Carson Teel (W, 1-1) earned the win in relief with innings of work. Jake Irvin pitched 4.2 innings of one-run ball in the no decision with three strikeouts.
Photo via Aaron Barrett (Twitter)
