Walk-off single leads Potomac Nationals to victory

Speed kills.

That mantra paid dividends Sunday for the Potomac Nationals, who used a walk-off single that scored Eury Perez all the way from first base to secure just their second series victory of the season with a 5-4 victory over the Wilmington Blue Rocks before 6,396 fans at Pfitzner Stadium.

With the game tied 4-4 in the ninth inning and Wilmington playing a “no-doubles” defense that has the outfielders pulled from regular depth and swung around, leaving larger gaps in the outfield, Jeff Kobernus ripped a pitch from Manauris Baez into the left-field gap. With the speedy Baez already at first after collecting his fourth hit of the day, manager Matt LeCroy, waved Perez around from the third base coaching box and the throw home was late, setting off a wild celebration near the plate.

“With them playing no-doubles and our best base runner on base, I figured it’s a [good] chance to take,” LeCroy said of waving Perez home. “If it doesn’t work and he gets nailed, the game is still tied. There’s no harm in doing it. I saw some good things today, and the defense was outstanding. We were able to win a big ball game. We got a lot of two-out hits and if you get those, you will win a lot of ball games.”

Potomac (14-21) has won consecutive “walk-off” games, though Saturday’s was a rain-shortened, eight inning affair. If Potomac can put together more games of the type they played Sunday, the remainder of the first half could be much more rewarding than the first 35 games have been.

The bottom of the order paid dividends at the plate, while several P-Nats made good defensive plays, and their starter provided a solid effort, so Sunday’s game was a welcome sight for a team that has struggled to put together sustained stretches all season. Potomac got four hits each from Destin Hood and  Perez, who also drove in the game-winning run Saturday night.

Perez, who entered the game with no extra-base hits this season, tripled his season output with three doubles while scoring twice. Meanwhile, Hood, who has been the offensive catalyst for most of the season, also made the most of his speed, notching a pair of infield hits, while driving in three runs and making perhaps the defensive play of the game for good measure.

“I think it was the first time I have dived for a ball all season, but in that situation it is just an instinctive thing,” Hood said of a diving catch along the left field line in the sixth inning. “We have some good players on this team and we are just trying to be there at the end of games. If we play team ball, we can [start winning] more games.”

Kobernus, who was 0 for his past 16 before his game-winning hit, said he was happy to contribute to a win.

“It was nice to get one extra hit to pull us through in the clutch, especially the way I have been going,” Kobernus said.

Meanwhile, Perez said a slight adjustment in his swing has helped him come through.

“I changed my mechanics and am just trying to put the ball in play,” Perez said through interpreter Steven Souza. “I’m more relaxed when I am in the bottom of the lineup. It feels good to come through for the team. I’ve been focusing more on defense and speed, but by relaxing the hits will come.”

 Potomac starter Mitchell Clegg walked Whit Merrifield to lead off the game, then yielded a run-scoring double to John Whittleman off the right field fence to give the Blue Rocks a 1-0 lead.

The P-Nats responded with a run in the bottom of the first off Wilmington starter Jake Odorizzi. Jose Lozada blasted a double into right, moved to third on a single by Hood, and scored on a sacrifice fly to center by Souza.

The Nationals’ speed paid dividends in the third when Perez laced a leadoff double, moved to third on a ground ball, and scored when Hood beat out an infield roller on a close play to make it 2-1.

Clegg worked around a leadoff double in the fourth inning, retiring Tim Ferguson on a popup and then getting two consecutive ground ball outs.

In the fifth inning,  Perez clubbed a one-out double into the right center field gap, but was thrown out trying to score when Blue Rocks third baseman Deivi Batista bobbled Kobernus’ grounder briefly, but Juan Graterol blocked the plate and applied the tag. Kobernus stole second and scored when Hood laced a single to left.

Clegg kept the P-Nats in the game, yielding just a run on five hits through 5 1/3 innings. He was helped by his defense which turned a double play and caught a runner trying to steal. Josh Smoker relieved Clegg with one out in the sixth and was helped by a spectacular diving catch in right field by Hood and a brilliant stab of a grounder and strong throw to first by Francisco Soriano.

However, in the seventh, Smoker walked the first two batters in the inning before Marcos Frias relieved him and allowed one inherited runner to score when Batista singled softly to left to pull Wilmington (19-16) within 3-2. Frias restored order by striking out Merrifield and getting Testa on a soft fly ball to left.

Hood blasted the first pitch of the ninth inning over the fence in left to give the P-Nats a two-run lead.

That run was important because Juan Graterol singled and scored on a double by Batista, who went 4-4 and drove in two runs.  Batista later scored on a single to left by Whit Merrifield off Pat Lehman (2-0), who blew a save chance for just the second time this season.