By Will Flemming
For PotomacLocal.com
Woodbridge, Va. –– The Potomac Nationals and Salem Red Sox saw their first half come to an early end Sunday afternoon, as heavy rains forced the cancellation of the final game in the season’s opening stanza. Potomac finishes the first half at 29-40, while the Sox post a 31-38 mark.
After dropping the first three of their 14-game homestand, the Nationals won seven of ten to close the half.
The early game comes as the two teams faced each other in a doubleheader Saturday night after rain forced the cancelation of Friday night’s game.
Sunday’s cancellation closes out an incredibly rainy opening half. The Nationals were rained out ten times and played nine doubleheaders.
After the All Star Break, Potomac opens the second half with a six-game road trip to Myrtle Beach and Kinston.
On Saturday, Paul Demny threw five no-hit innings in the nightcap to key a 2-0 Potomac Nationals win and a split in a doubleheader with the Salem Red Sox. Potomac dropped the opener 5-2 but shut down the Sox to earn the split heading into the final game of the first half.
Demny faced just one more than the minimum in the second game’s first four innings; Dan Butler’s two-out walk was the lone blemish through four. In the fifth, Michael Almanzar broke up the no hitter but Demny retired Derrik Gibson and James Kang to end the inning and his outing.
The Nationals (29-40) got the decisive runs in the second inning with a two-out rally. J.P. Ramirez’s one-out walk was followed by a J.P. Ramirez single; after Justino Cuevas flied out and Chris Curran walked, Eury Perez roped a single to right field that scored a pair and put the Nats ahead for good.
After Demny was lifted before the sixth, Josh Smoker created a jam by hitting Wilfred Pichardo and walking Kolbrin Vitek. Joe Testa was summoned from the ‘pen and got Dan Butler to ground out and induced a double play by Shannon Wilkerson to end the threat.
Testa pitched a perfect seventh to earn his fifth save.
In Game One, the Sox surged ahead in the first inning and never looked back. Three straight hits, the last of which was a Bryce Brentz home run, gave the Red Sox (31-38) all the runs they would need.
Potomac pulled within a run with tallies in the third and fifth innings. In the third, Eury Perez scored on a wild pitch, while Sandy Leon drove home Justin Bloxom with a two-out single in the fifth.
But the Sox padded their lead with two runs in the seventh, and Michael Gleason pitched a perfect inning for his second save.
Will Flemming is the Broadcast Director for the Potomac Nationals.
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