Nats Falter Late Against Lynchburg

LYNCHBURG, VA - The Nats surrendered a late lead in the series opener at Lynchburg, as the Hillcats walked off with a 5-4 win. FXBG is now 20-11 (55-42), and the ‘Cats are 14-17 (51-46) after the victory.

Yohandy Morales began a rehab stint with the Nats, and got right to work with a solo home run in the top of the first inning. Caleb Farmer doubled the lead in the second with an 11-pitch at-bat leading to an RBI double.

Lynchburg battled back in the bottom of the inning, with a one-out double followed by an RBI single from Juan Benjamin. Logun Clark then put the Hillcats in front with a two-run home run.

The Freddies grabbed that lead right back, as Elijah Green crushed his ninth homer of the year in the third inning, to make it 4-3 Nationals.

That score held until the bottom of the eighth, when Lynchburg put runners on the corners with one out for Luis Merejo. He then lifted a sacrifice fly to right field, bringing Welbyn Francisca in to level the game at 4-4.

Lynchburg wasted little time in the ninth inning, getting a leadoff double followed by a single to put the winning run at third base. Samuel Vasquez got the next man out, but Tommy Hawke followed with a game-winning sac fly for the Hillcats. Robert Weigelnik (3-2) earned the win, and Vasquez (4-2) took the loss.

In game two, Mikey Tepper (1-0, 2.04) makes his return from the IL against Jackson Humphries (1-5, 4.20) in a 6:30 start.