P-Nats Can't Overcome Mistakes

On a night that threatened rain but stayed dry, the Potomac Nationals had two runs walked in, one player was ejected, and the most effective pitcher was a catcher playing first base.

The P-Nats were unable to overcome a host of problems, including three errors that led to three runs, in an 11-5 loss to the Wilmington Blue Rocks Thursday night.

Potomac almost scored first in the bottom of the second inning when Sean Nicol singled to right with Sandy Leon on second, but Wilmington right fielder Nick Van Stratten easily threw out Leon at the plate.

Wilmington put a run on the board in the third when Whit Merrifield followed Deivy Batista's triple with an RBI double. Potomac answered with two runs in the bottom of the inning. Sandy Leon and Zachary Walkters drew consecutive bases-loaded walks with two outs to take the lead.

The game was tied at 3 after four innings and stayed that way until the sixth inning, when Wilmington broke the tie with an RBI double by Julio Rodriguez. Wilmington scored again in the seventh, then broke the game open with a six-run eighth inning.

The Nationals responded with two runs in the bottom of the eighth, but in the ninth inning, left the bases loaded after drawing three walks.

P-Nats backup catcher Brian Peacock came in to play first base in the fourth inning to replace Steven Souza, who was ejected in the bottom of the third after arguing a called third strike. Peacock took the mound in the ninth, and despite issuing two walks and an infield single to load the bases, kept Wilmington from scoring again.