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Bullpen stumbles as Dash loses 8-4 in 12
Winston-Salem rallies in bottom of 11th to extend game, but relievers walk nine in loss to Potomac
Journal Photo by Lauren Carroll
Shortstop Greg Paiml of the Dash avoids runner Christopher Marrero and throws to first to complete a double play.
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Published: July 2, 2009
It took 12 innings, but the Winston-Salem Dash finally found some trouble that it couldn't undo last night.
The Potomac Nationals belatedly reaped the benefits of 10 walks by Dash pitchers -- nine by the bullpen -- and pulled out a wild 8-4 victory at Wake Forest Baseball Park.
A leadoff walk issued by reliever Hector Santiago, a hit by Devin Ivany and the ensuing wild pitch by Santiago put the Dash in a second-and-third, no-out pickle in the 12th.
Stephen King was intentionally walked and a nail-biter quickly turned into a rout when Dan Lyons ripped a three-run triple over the head of center fielder Salvador Sanchez.
Lyons later scored for good measure and closer Dan Leatherman put the Dash to rest in the bottom of the 12th.
"That's a tough one," Manager Joe McEwing of the Dash said. "We had some opportunities that we let go, but the good part was that our guys kept grinding and battling the whole night and it was a good, hard-played baseball game.
"Any time you walk people -- especially leading off an inning -- it puts a lot of pressure on the defense and that eventually came back and got us."
Somewhat lost in the array of late-inning strategic maneuvering by both teams were earlier performances by both starting pitchers, Jacob Rasner of the Dash and Tom Milone of the Nationals.
Rasner, who pitched in the bullpen before moving into a rotation spot on June 1, made his seventh start but hasn't factored in a decision in any of them.
Opponents were hitting just .199 against him entering last night's game and the Nationals did even worse. Rasner allowed just four hits and a walk in eight innings, his longest outing of the season. He struck out five.
"Rasner was outstanding," McEwing said. "And we needed that from him because we were a little short in the bullpen. He gave us eight solid innings and held them to two runs."
The Nationals' runs off Rasner came on solo homers in the fifth and eighth innings by Francisco Plasencia and Chris Marrero, who belted his fourth in the four-game series against the Dash.
Left-hander Milone was also effective. He pitched seven innings and allowed five hits, no walks and struck out nine.
Jimmy Gallagher drove in both runs charged to Milone -- on a line-drive single in the first and double to the wall in the sixth.
With the score tied 2-2, both teams pulled out all stops to try to produce, or prevent, a decisive run in the late stages.
The Dash worked out of a two-on, one-out jam in the top of the ninth with aid of a double-steal attempt by the Nationals that went awry and led to a third out.
The Nationals dodged a threat in the bottom of the ninth when Sanchez led off with a double and moved to third on a sacrifice bunt by Tyler Kuhn.
Adam Ricks was intentionally walked to set up a potential double play. The Nationals then brought in a fifth infielder and stationed him on the right side against left-handed hitter Joe Persichina, who hit a grounder to shortstop Danny Espinosa. Sanchez barreled toward home on the grounder but was thrown out by Espinosa.
Reliever Atahualpa Severino ended the inning with a strikeout of Dale Mollenhauer.
Back-to-back walks by reliever Wander Perez in the top of the 10th produced more potential trouble for the Dash, but a timely double play prevented damage.
The Nationals broke through in the 11th, getting two runs with the aid of a balk and two, two-out walks issued by reliever Santiago along with a run-scoring passed ball and RBI single by Tim Pahuta.
But the 4-2 lead was short-lived, as the Dash charged back in the bottom of the 11th with tying runs.
Seth Loman led off with a single, Sanchez drew a walk against reliever Cole Kimball and both advanced on a sacrifice bunt by Kuhn.
Kent Gerst, running for Loman, scored on a ground out by Adam Ricks and closed the gap to 4-3. Kimball then struck out Persichina for what would have been the third out, but Kimball's pitch skipped past catcher Sean Rooney and Sanchez scored from third.
The Dash is scheduled to face a left-hander for the third straight game tonight when it plays the Lynchburg Hillcats at Wake Forest Baseball Park.
Justin Wilson (3-5) is scheduled to start for the Hillcats against right-hander Anthony Carter (6-4).
■ Tommy Bowman can be reached at 727-7320 or at tbowman@wsjournal.com.
POT. ab r h bi W-S ab r h bi
Nlsn 2b/lf 3 0 1 0 Mllher 2b 5 2 1 0
Rooney c 5 0 0 1 Sierra 2b 0 0 0 0
Espnsa ss 4 1 0 0 Paiml ss 5 0 1 0
Burgess rf 4 0 0 0 Gllghr 1b 5 0 2 2
Marero 1b 2 1 1 1 Morel 3b 4 0 1 0
Whiting pr 0 0 0 0 Loman dh 5 0 1 0
Pahuta 1b 1 0 1 1 Grst pr/dh 0 1 0 0
Plscna cf 3 2 1 1 Sanchez cf 4 1 1 0
Ivany dh 5 1 1 0 Kuhn lf 3 0 0 0
King 3b 4 1 1 0 Ricks c 4 0 1 1
Seuss lf 3 0 0 0 Prschna rf 5 0 0 0
Lyons 2b 2 2 2 3
Totals 36 8 8 7 Totals 40 4 8 3
Potomac 000 010 010 024 -- 8
Winston-Salem 100 001 000 020 -- 4
DP--Potomac 1, Winston-Salem 4. LOB--Potomac 4, Winston-Salem 9. 2B--Gallagher 2, Mollenhauer, Sanchez. 3B--Lyons. HR--Plasencia, Marrero SB--Whiting. CS--Nelson 2, Morel.
Potomac IP H R ER BB SO
Milone 7 5 2 2 0 9
Severino 3 3 1 1 2 3
Kimball, W (2-5) 1 0 1 1 1 1
Leatherman 1 0 0 0 0 1
Winston-Salem IP H R ER BB SO
Rasner 8 4 2 2 1 5
Perez 11/3 0 0 0 4 1
Santiago, L (2-2) 22/3 4 6 6 5 2
WP--Severino, Kimball, Santiago 2. BK--Santiago. IBB--by Severino (Ricks), by Santiago (King). HBP--by Milone (Mollenhauer), by Severino (Morel). T--3:51. A--547
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