Potomac rally comes up short

Despite the fact home has been an extremely cozy place for the Potomac Nationals this season, not even familiar surroundings could enable them to dig their way out of an early hole Saturday night en route to a 10-6 loss to the Frederick Keys before a crowd of 5,423 at Pfitzner Stadium.

Potomac (19-8) was a Carolina League-best 9-7 this season before the game, having won 21 of 22 games at home, dating to last season. But after Frederick (16-12) built a 9-0 lead in the top of the third, Potomac was forced to mount a furious comeback that fell short.

The ingredients that enabled the P-Nats to build a 4½ game lead in the Northern Division of the Carolina League—pitching and defense—mostly eluded them last night as their five-game winning streak was snapped. Right hander Terrence Engles made his Carolina League debut after posting a 3-0 record at low-Class A Hagerstown. But the Keys made it a forgettable debut, torching him for seven runs (four earned) on six hits in two innings.

Throwing errors by Leonard Davis and Matt Rogelstad led to four unearned runs for Frederick.

The Keys scored in the first inning against Engles as he hit Danny Figueroa with his second pitch of the game and Figueroa eventually scored when Brandon Tripp sliced a double to left center field to give the Keys a 1-0 lead.

Frederick took a 7-0 lead in the second, sparked by a two-run triple to left by Chris Amador and a two-run homer by to right center by Tripp. The other two runs of the inning scored on a sacrifice fly by Jason White and a throwing error by Davis.

The Nationals missed a scoring opportunity in the second when Marvin Lowrance drew a one-out walk and Edgardo Baez followed with a single to right. But Keys' starter Pedro Beato, con-sidered the ninth best prospect in the Orioles system by Baseball America, got Seth Bynum on a grounder to third before striking out Jhonatan Solano.

Frederick made it 9-0 in the third, scoring off reliever Jack Spradlin as White led off with a double and scored on a double to center by Amador. Amador scored when Chris Vinyard singled off Davis' glove.

Potomac pushed a run across in the third as Jemel Spearman led off with a single and moved to second on a fielders' choice grounder by Rogelstad. Chris Marrero's single to right moved Spearman to third and he scored on a fielder's choice grounder by Frank Diaz.

Baez came through again in the fourth, following a leadoff single by Lowrance with a booming homer to left center to pull the Nationals within 9-3.

Potomac scored three in the fifth as Rogelstad doubled to left and moved to third on a single to right by Marrero. One out later, Davis drilled a run-scoring single. After Baez was hit by a pitch, Bynum pounded a two-run single up the middle to make it 9-6.

The inning ended with Potomac stranding the bases loaded when Spearman was retired on a soft fly to left. Frederick tacked on an unearned run in the eighth to seal the game.

Frederick pitcher Ryan Rodriguez (2-0) pitched scoreless ball over the final three innings to earn the victory, limiting Potomac to one hit and two walks.

NOTES—Pitchers Cory Van Allen and Zech Zinicola were both promoted to AA Harrisburg after Friday's game. Craig Stammen, who also pitched for the P-Nats each of the past two sea-sons, returned to Potomac Saturday following a two-inning stint at Class AAA Columbus. Stam-men allowed a run and one hit to the Lehigh Valley Iron Pigs on Thursday. He made six relief appearances in relief for Potomac before his promotion, but may join the starting rotation.