P-Nats rally, square semifinal series
Resilience seems to be the norm for Potomac.Third-ranked Nationals prospect Luis Garcia capped a three-run eighth inning with a two-run single as Potomac rallied for a 7-4 victory over Lynchburg on Saturday, tying its best-of-5 Carolina League semifinal series at 2-2.
Resilience seems to be the norm for Potomac.
Third-ranked Nationals prospect Luis Garcia capped a three-run eighth inning with a two-run single as Potomac rallied for a 7-4 victory over Lynchburg on Saturday, tying its best-of-5 Carolina League semifinal series at 2-2.
Gameday box score
The P-Nats dropped the completion of suspended Game 3 earlier in the day and fell behind in Game 4, 4-3, when
But Potomac tied it in the bottom half on an RBI single by Carolina League batting champion
"It was a 3-2 count, so he had a good at-bat. It was a really good at-bat," Nationals manager Tripp Keister said. "He fouled off a tough pitch with two strikes and took a good borderline pitch for a ball. Now at 3-2, he hit him. It was a good at-bat, and we had a bunch of those in that inning before Garcia hit the big two-run single. Good at-bats in leverage spots, it's fun to watch."
One out later, Garcia stepped to the plate and grounded a single to center field to plate
• Complete postseason coverage »
"We had some leads in the late innings and they came back and scored, so any add-on runs you can get are a big deal," Keister said. "Luis had a really good at-bat, and he had good at-bats all day, really. It was good to see him come through and get us two more."
Nationals No. 18 prospect
"It was a quality start. He pitched well and deserved a better fate," Keister said. "He was in control. He had everything going tonight. We had a long inning and he came back out and stuff wasn't the same in the seventh. We made an error, which hurt. But give them credit, they capitalized in that inning."
Wade greeted reliever Hayden Howard with his first homer of the series, turning Lynchburg's 3-0 deficit into a 4-3 lead.
But the P-Nats responded.
"We played really well tonight and came out today, and they just played better than we did at the end of that first game," Keister said. "We had to regroup. We played for our season in the second game tonight. We had a lead and gave it up again but got it back. It was an emotional swing, but our guys played hard for a long time and we have a chance to play tomorrow."
In other Carolina League playoff action
Hillcats 6, Nationals 4
Lynchburg took a 2-1 lead in the best-of-5 series lead in the completion of a game suspended due to rain on Friday.
Marisa Ingemi is a contributor to MiLB.com. Follow her on Twitter @Marisa_Ingemi.