P-Nats pitchers weren't great, but still beat Frederick

Dan Leatherman stood to the right of the gate on the first side of Pfitzner Stadium signing autographs for children following his two-inning performance on Tuesday afternoon.

It is Leatherman’s custom to sign baseballs and cards and mingle with fans after games.

“It’s nice to hear fans telling you, ‘good job,’” Leatherman said. “That’s the reason why we’re here. We’re here for the fans.”

On this day, the Potomac Nationals relief pitcher earned the right to take a break from baseball after recording his fourth save this year.

His two scoreless innings, highlighted by Michael Burgess’s second spectacular catch of the game, helped the Nationals defeat the Frederick Keys 4-3 in game one of the three-game series.

Leatherman, a Frederick, Md. native, was the last of six pitchers Potomac manager Trent Jewett used. Combined, Potomac’s pitching staff was not great. It issued seven walks, hit two batters, allowed a home run and uncorked a wild pitch.

But Frederick’s hitters failed to make Nationals pitchers pay for putting so many men on base. Leatherman forced Matt Angle to ground out to end the eighth with runners at second and third and got the final two outs after putting the tying run on base with one out.

“Other than the walks, I thought we did a nice job from the bullpen standpoint,” Jewett said. “Two-inning saves are tough. But Leather’s been resilient all year. I think it’s a credit to his conditioning and mindset.”

One of the final two outs was made by Caleb Joseph, who hit the ball down the rightfield line. It appeared to be a hit, but Burgess sprinted toward the line, dove and caught the ball just before it hit the ground.

“Outs are precious, especially when it’s that way and it’s the final inning,” Jewett said.

Robbie Widlansky then stepped to the plate with no hits in his day’s previous four at-bats. But he has proved capable of hitting Nationals pitching, thanks to a 9-for-13 performance with three doubles, a home run and five RBI during a series in Frederick on Aug. 3-5.

The count to Widlansky went full. Leatherman’s next offering was skied to left field. Left fielder Dan Nelson called off shortstop Danny Espinosa and secured the ball for Potomac’s second victory in its past three games.

Leatherman made his pitch when needed and his fellow relievers did the same throughout the game. Forced to throw more innings than usual — starter Will Atwood left after allowing three runs on six hits, a home run and three walks in three innings — the relievers summoned the strength to make crucial pitches in crucial situations.

Patrick McCoy made Widlansky ground into a force play with a runner on first to end the top of the seventh.

Hassan Pena made Ryan Adams bounce into a 6-4-3 double play with Tyler Henson on first base in a 3-3 game in the fifth, completing Pena’s two scoreless innings.

The game certainly produced its share of offense.

Frederick’s runs came on Brandon Waring’s three-run third inning home run. The Nationals scored their first three runs in the second. Chris Marrero scored on Brian Peacock’s groundout. Dan Nelson came home on Boomer Whiting’s triple and Whiting scored when Widlansky failed to cleanly backhand Michael Martinez’s ground ball at first base.

The game stayed tied until the bottom of the sixth. An intentional walk to Nelson loaded the bases with no outs.

Right-handed relief pitcher Patrick Egan was brought on to face Peacock. Egan ran the count 1-2 on Peacock before the batter sent a ball to center. Angle caught it and Marrero crossed home plate.

Osvaldo Rodriguez opened the seventh by walking his first two hitters. He struck out Joseph before McCoy came on and Leatherman followed.

Cole Kimball earned the victory by pitching a perfect sixth. He improved to 4-5.