Doubleheader split at Potomac

The Potomac Nationals knew if their starting pitchers could hold the Salem Avalanche lineup to minimum production, the P-Nats’ bats would likely provide enough offense to collect a double-header sweep at Pfitzner Stadium Friday night.

Just last week the Nationals outscored the Avalanche 21-6 in a pair of games at Salem, giving Po-tomac some peace of mind regarding runs in the twinbill.

A repeat performance just wasn’t the case last night in the opening game as the squads battled into what were at technically extra innings of a scheduled seven-frame contest before reaching true overtime and the eventual 6-2 Salem win thanks to a Jimmy Van Ostrand two-out grand slam in the 10th off closer Adam Carr (3-4).

The Nationals wasted no time in Game 2 as Matt Rogelstad drilled the first pitch he saw for a one-out solo shot in the first inning on the way to a 1-0 Potomac victory.

Potomac pitching could not get Van Ostrand out in Game 1 as the first baseman drove in a ca-reer-high five runs on a 4 for 4 night to go with a walk.

Nationals starter Jhonny Nunez still couldn’t find his first win with Potomac. Nunez looked like he might be in for a rough night early, giving up two first-inning runs on two doubles and a single. But those runs were all the 6-foot-3 right-hander permitted in six innings of work, his first start since throwing five shut-out frames against Myrtle Beach May 13, also the opening game of a dou-bleheader.

Wins have eluded Nunez despite showing improvement from his early-season struggles that re-sulted in a record of four losses for the 22-year-old. Against Salem, Nunez surrendered just five hits (only two came after the first) and struck out six.

“Hopefully when he gets (the first win) they’ll come in bunches,” Knorr said of Nunez’s strug-gles. “I ask my starters all the time to just keep us in the game and he’s done that. It’s just unfortu-nate for him that the days he pitches we don’t swing well.”

The Nationals rapped-out eight hits in the game but could not find a way to drive in anymore than the two runs they got on Seth Bynum’s two-run homer in the third.

Trailing 2-0 with one out in that inning, Matt Rogelstad smoked a single just past Salem starter Joel Santo’s head for Potomac’s first hit of the game. Four pitches later Bynum launched a 3-1 pitch into the trees just beyond the upper portion of the left field wall to tie the game. The teams matched zeroes on the linescore before Van Ostrand’s blast in the 10th and Jason Dominguez closed the game out for Salem.

Potomac manager Randy Knorr didn’t see the final four innings of the nightcap after he was ejected by home plate umpire Chris Segal in the third for arguing a foul ruling on what would have been Rogelstad’s second homer of the game, a two-run shot with two out.

Knorr raced from his spot as third base coach following Segal’s call and placed himself between an upset Rogelstad and the official. The manager spiked his base coach helmet on the first base line almost immediately as he arrived at Segal, earning himself an early trip to the clubhouse. It was only the second time Knorr has been thrown out of a game this year and both ejections were cour-tesy of Segal.

“It was clearly a home run, I don’t know why he would call that foul,” Knorr said. “He threw me out in Salem because I called him a liar. I don’t know how you miss that.”

“I was running down the line and I had a pretty good look at it. I thought it was fair,” said Rogel-stad who obviously had a stake in the call. “They’re all human and he made the call and you’ve got to live with it.”

Instead of putting the Nationals up 3-0, Rogelstad ended the inning by striking out against Erik Abreu.

There wasn’t much offense besides Rogelstad’s hit, the only one for Potomac in the game.

Joe Norrito registered the win in the game, holding the Avalanche to just three hits over six in-nings. It was his second straight strong outing as a starter after allowing just two hits to the same Salem team May 17 in five shutout-innings.

“I just wanted to go out there and throw strikes, get ahead of guys,” Norrito said. “When the game’s that close you have to grind out every pitch and just focus each pitch.”

Norrito started the season with Triple-A Columbus for just 3.1 innings of relief before being sent down to Potomac. He also pitched out of the bullpen with the Nationals when he arrived but has shined as a starter.

“Ever since we got him starting he’s been outstanding,” Knorr said. “I think he likes it. The day we told him he was starting he kind of perked up a bit. He likes it better than being in the ‘pen.”