Nationals and Keys are suspended in seventh

As the Frederick Keys and Potomac Nationals tried to play innings on Wednesday, they were twice delayed by fog.

The fog was so thick, it made the Pfitzner Stadium outfield look white.

And the game was suspended.

The Keys and Nationals will resume play on Thursday at 5:30 p.m. with the score tied at eight in the bottom of the seventh.

The regularly scheduled game will be played as a seven-inning affair following the conclusion of the delayed game.

Though things will be even when baseball continues, Nationals manager Gary Cathcart praised his starting pitcher, Patrick Lehman, who continues to show an effective changeup. Lehman combined his changeup with his other offerings to strike out seven in four and a third innings.

“His stuff was good,” Cathcart said. “He just needs to trust it a little more. It’s a learning experience for him. I took the ball from him and told him he needs to be a little more effective.”

Ronnie Welty hammered one Lehman offering beyond the right field wall for a 2-0 Frederick lead in the top of the first.

Jacob Julius doubled with two outs in the fourth and scored, but Lehman showed an ability to keep the ball down despite allowing six hits and issuing two walks.

“I thought I settled down [after the Welty home run],” Lehman said. “In the beginning, my command was there, but I wasn’t economical early. Overall, I threw pretty well.”

The first fog delay came before the start of the bottom of the fifth. It lasted seven and a half minutes.

The Nationals were ahead 7-4, but the fog quickly evaporated to let play continue.

The second delay came when Keys manager Orlando Gomez emerged from his team’s dugout and notified home plate umpire Doug Vines that he could not see Welty, his right fielder.

So the umpires conversed and with Potomac’s Tyler Moore down in the count 0-1, the players were again forced to leave the field and retreat to their respective dugouts.

But for as white as the outfield looked, Potomac’s offense certainly was not bland. The Nationals pounded out 11 hits, three by shortstop Jose Lozada, who is a triple short of hitting for the cycle.

Lozada’s sixth inning home run, his first of the year, tied the score at eight.

Dan Nelson and Michael Burgess both singled twice for Potomac (4-8). Francisco Plasencia singled and scored a run. Wilberto Cruz doubled and scored as
part of Potomac’s four-run fourth inning.

The Nationals also used a three-run third to reverse their offensive fortune of the previous day when they managed only one on six hits.

Lack of production concerned Cathcart, who felt his team’s performance needed to improve.

“We did a better job laying off pitcher’s pitches and hitting the fastball,” Cathcart said.