Potomac Nationals Blast Salem Avalanche 11-5 - Adv A, Carolina League

MLN Newswire - www.mlntherawfeed.com - SALEM, Va. – The Potomac Nationals picked up their home run trot right where they left off from last night. Potomac hammered the Salem Avalanche 11-5 on Friday night as Adrian Alaniz managed to last five innings and
earn his team-leading fifth win of the season.

Salem starter David Qualben entered the contest with a 6.61 ERA and
seemingly never stood a chance.  A day after the P-Nats launched three big
flies in a win over Myrtle Beach, Matt Rogelstad smacked a1-0 delivery
from Qualben (1-6) in the first inning off the light post beyond the right
field wall for a 2-0 lead. The homer tied Rogelstad with four other
teammates for the team lead with five. Rogelstad finished 3-5 with four
RBI and one walk.

The offensive uprising would not end in the first inning with Potomac
pouring on four more runs. Qualben hit Chris Marrero and Dee Brown and did
not receive any defensive help thanks to an error from second baseman Greg
Buchanon which allowed Frank Diaz to reach base. Seth Bynum politely added
to his team-leading RBI total with a three-run double. In all, the
Nationals sent 10 batters to the plate and gave Alaniz a six run advantage
before he threw a pitch.

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Alaniz (5-0), who came in to tonight’s contest having won four consecutive
decisions, did not have his best stuff. The right-hander immediately ran
into trouble in the first inning walking two batters and allowing a
single. With two outs and the bases loaded, Jimmy Van Ostrand laced a
bases clearing double cutting the Nationals lead to 6-3.

The former University of Texas standout eventually settled down getting
out of a bases loaded jam in the second inning by recording back-to-back
strikeouts. Alaniz retired nine consecutive hitters before Tim Torress
singled in the fifth inning but was left stranded on the bases. With the
win, Alaniz stays undefeated for the season after allowing five hits and
striking out seven.

Potomac peppered runs in the fourth, fifth, seventh, and eighth innings,
while pounding out 14 total hits. Michael Martinez had a terrific night
going 3-6 with two doubles, an RBI, and two runs scored. Edgardo Baez and
Chris Marrero each added RBI hits to extend the P-Nats lead. Every player
in Potomac’s starting lineup had at least one hit.

Salem had four errors defensively during the game and Potomac capitalized
scoring in every inning an error was committed. The two teams combined to
score 16 runs but also tallied 20 strikeouts.

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