Dash rally to beat P-Nats

A.J. Morris slowly walked off the mound and into the Potomac Nationals dugout.

He had been called on to calm the Winston-Salem Dash’s offense as it appeared to finally be awakening.

But even the usually reliable relief pitcher was not immune to the wrath of Winston-Salem’s hitters.

Morris’s final line was five runs and four hits with a walk, strikeout and wild pitch.

Hence, the Potomac Nationals, who appeared on their way to victory, settled for a 9-8 defeat following Winston-Salem’s eight-run eighth inning.
Morris (4-3) was the losing pitcher.

“They just got into a groove,” Potomac catcher Derek Norris said. “Hitting’s contagious. We all know they’re a good hitting team. We quieted them for seven innings and they turned it on.”

The Dash sent 12 men to the plate in the eighth. At one point, seven straight batters reached base via a hit.

Morris struck out Jose Martinez for the first out. He walked Jon Gilmore and forced Seth Loman to ground into a force out.

Even with the odds favoring the Nationals escaping the inning with no further damage, the Dash refused to wilt.

Hits from the next six Winston-Salem batters allowed the Dash to put together an offensive onslaught.

It marked the Dash’s 14th come-from-behind victory this year after being down in the seventh inning or later.

It was the fifth time Winston-Salem had done so against Potomac.

“You’ve got to give them credit,” Potomac manager Gary Cathcart said. “We had a guy out there who’s been doing a great job. It’s a tough job [trying to get] out of the inning. “But give our guys credit. We came back and almost won this game.”

Patrick McCoy’s quest to get the final out finally was completed after Martinez grounded a ball to him. McCoy threw low, but in time to first for the third out.

The Nationals managed a run in the eighth and another in the ninth.

Francisco Soriano scored the ninth inning run on a throwing error by right fielder Ozzie Lewis.

Sean Nicol, credited with a single, advanced to second when Lewis overthrew the cutoff man in the infield and was given another error.

Norris, who hit 23 home runs last year at Low-A Hagerstown, stepped to the plate and bunted. His bunt attempt, however, was caught on a dive by first baseman Luis Sierra.

Cathcart said afterward that a sacrifice bunt would have put the tying run at third with one out and forced Winston-Salem to bring its infield in.

Instead, Norris popped the ball up and Sierra saw his chance to get it.

“I’ve never bunted in my life,” Norris said. “Gary thought the best chance to move the runner over was to bunt.”

Brandon Kloess then struck out Tyler Moore looking. Hector Santiago then came on from the bullpen and forced Bill Rhinehart to ground a ball back to him for the final out.

Winston-Salem had clinched a victory despite making four errors.

Potomac (29-23, 60-62 overall) had much to smile about before the Dash’s retaliation.

Moore hit his league-leading 26th home run and with his 97th RBI, inched closer to becoming the first franchise player to have 100 RBI since Troy Farnsworth had 113 in 2000.

A 2 for 4 evening, though, was not Moore’s lone chance to please the 3,109 Pfitzner Stadium fans.

He knocked down Drew Garcia’s ball in the third inning. The ball bounced off Moore and to second baseman Soriano, who threw to starting pitcher Jimmy Barthmaier. Barthamier tagged the bag for the out.

That sequence was one of four defensive gems the Nationals made.

Right fielder Nick Moresi’s diving catch robbed Lewis of a base hit in the second.

The next batter, Luis Sierra, sent a line drive which shortstop Jose Lozada caught on a leap and threw to first to complete a double play.

Center fielder Chris Curran caught Lewis’s fly ball in the seventh and threw to Soriano to double off Lewis.

Potomac also turned two ground ball double plays.

Even as the Nationals left 15 men on base, their manager’s evaluation was not bad.

“Our at-bats were outstanding,” Cathcart said. “That’s a good hitting ball club. We had a couple big double plays. I feel bad for the guys because they did just about everything but win that game.

“But we’ll come back and get after it tomorrow night.”