Potomac Blows Away Wilmington Behind Hood and Wang

Destin Hood grounded out and flew out in his first two at-bats before Hitting Coach Mark Harris gave him a tip. He told Hood to wait just a little longer before making contact at the plate. His next three at-bats: two-run homer, double, three-run homer.

It turned out the Nationals didn’t even need that many runs to dispose of the Wilmington Blue Rockets in the first game of a four game series 14-1. Potomac scored seven runs in the eighth inning, a new season high.

Brian Peacock led off the eighth with a solo home run against Glenn Gibson. Gibson retired two of the next four batters, but Hood’s second home run scored three more. Justin Bloxom reached on a walk and later scored on a J.P. Ramirez single. 

That chased Gibson in favor of Edgar Garcia. By this point, the Nationals had batted around to Peacock’s spot in the lineup again, and he laced a triple to center field that scored two more.

“I was seeing the ball really good all night,” Peacock said. “I just wanted to get a good pitch to drive, and I was able to get that ball up to hit the home run with.”

“I've seen two home runs in an inning, but never a homer and a triple,” Nationals Manager Matt LeCroy said.

Potomac will take the 14 runs, but for the Washington Nationals organization, the best news could be how effective starting pitcher Chien-Ming Wang was. The right-hander won 19 games in 2007 and 2008 with the New York Yankees, but in 2009 he struggled and had career-threatening shoulder surgery. Some wondered if he’d ever return to baseball, but the Washington Nationals signed him to one-year contracts in 2010 and 2011 betting that he would.

Saturday night, he made his second rehab start of the season, his first for Potomac, and his performance suggests that the Washington Nationals’ faith in him may be paying off. 

Wang pitched four innings of one-hit ball. The only hit was a perfectly placed bunt along the third base line that Gerrard Hall was able to beat out. He gave up two runs on four hits in three innings in a rehab start with low-Class A Hagerstown Monday.

Wang steered his way out of trouble in the second inning, where he threw 17 of his 38 pitches. He led off the frame with a walk to John Whittleman, but Francisco Soriano made a terrific play to range to his right and snag a sharply hit ball from Ryan Stovall and turned a double play.

Tim Ferguson then walked and stole second, and a wild pitch from Wang allowed him to take third, but Wang struck out Jose Bonilla to end the frame.

“After the second inning [Pitching Coach Paul Menhart] talked to me and we made adjustments and then I was fine,” Wang said. He will practice with Potomac Sunday, but said he does not know if he will pitch in Potomac next or in Class-AA Harrisburg.

While Wang was scheduled to only pitch four innings, Wilmington starter Elisual Pimental was hooked after 4 2/3 because of his performance.

Designated hitter Cutter Dykstra doubled to leadoff the third inning. A Jeff Kobernus fielder’s choice scored him, and Justin Bloxom doubled to score him. Kobernus was 2-5 with the fielder’s choice, stole two bases, and scored three times.

The Nationals put up another crooked number in the fifth inning. Soriano blasted a solo home run to right-center, and Destin Hood hit a two-run shot to right field two batters later. Hood was in all-star form at the plate Saturday, hitting two home runs along with a double. Potomac chased Pimental in favor of Michael Mariot, who fared little better.

“I'm really pleased with the way we approached the starter today,” LeCroy said. “We chipped away, chipped away, had some real good short swings and used the whole field, and when we had a chance to put it away we stayed aggressive.”

The Nationals feasted on the Wilmington bullpen. Mariot allowed two runs in his 2 1/3 innings, and then gave way to Gibson in the eighth. 

Potomac added two more in the seventh. Kobernus scored his second run of the night on Justin Bloxom’s groundout, and Destin Hood scored on a wild pitch from Mariot.

The Nationals nearly played errorless baseball, but save for a throwing error late in the game by Soriano, the defense was solid. 

“If you play defense and you pitch, you’re going to win some ball games,” LeCroy said. “I think guys are starting to buy into it, and they’re getting a little more comfortable with this league, and hopefully we can get where we want to get at the end of the year.”