Luis García Homer? Steal of Home?! Thursday’s MiLB Recap

Another day full of games as there were five across the system on Thursday. The FredNats looked to rebound after being two-hit by the RiverDogs last night. Up-and-coming pitching prospect, Rodney Theophile, was on the bump hoping to continue his outstanding 2022 campaign. In Wilmington, Darren Baker and the Blue Rocks were also looking for a rebound after being swept in their doubleheader yesterday. The Senators had a doubleheader of their own today to make up for the rain out on Tuesday. And last, but not least, the Red Wings got their game in with a 1:05 PM start time after being postponed due to cold weather last night. Rochester is riding high after their stellar comeback on Tuesday night, thanks to Luis García and his two-home run performance.

Class-A Fredericksburg “FredNats” Nationals

Rodney Theophile spun another gem in Fredericksburg with nine strikeouts in six scoreless innings. He was relieved by Jose Ferrer who was tremendous through two innings, working fast and filling up the zone. With another scoreless outing, Ferrer’s ERA remains 0.00. Following a quiet Wednesday night from the FredNats offense, the hitters came to play in a breakout 4th inning. Drew Millas led the inning with a walk, was advanced to second on a Branden Boissiere single, then it got crazy. The rehabbing catcher, Millas, stole third AND HOME in the same at bat (yes you read that right). Following the steal of home, the player at bat, Sammy Infante, turned around the next pitch for a towering two-run homer to left center. It was a sequence of events that will be talked about for a long time. In the bottom of the 8th, the FredNats tacked on two more runs via an Infante single. In the end, the FredNats won 6-1.

High-A Wilmington Blue Rocks

The Blue Rocks needed a win after being swept in their doubleheader yesterday and Jake Irvin threw an outstanding four scoreless innings. He was followed by Michael Kirian, Troy Stainbrook, and Zach Brzykcy who kept the Renegades scoreless for the rest of the game. Brzykcy made it interesting in the bottom of the 9th, walking the bases loaded with one out, but he got out of it with back-to-back strikeouts to earn the save. The offense took the lead early, scoring a run on an Israel Pineda double in the 1st inning, and that’s all the Blue Rocks pitchers would need as they won 2-0.

Double-A Harrisburg Senators

In game one of the doubleheader, Richard Guasch turned in a quality start going six innings and giving up one run on three hits, four walks, and five strikeouts. This is coming off an outing where he tossed 5 2/3 scoreless with seven punch outs. Guasch’s performance would be more than enough for the 6-1 victory. It was a long ball frenzy for the home team. The Senators scored all six runs off of home runs from Taylor Gushue, Justin Connell, Mitch Longo, and Gilbert Lara, an impressive power display especially in a seven inning game. In the night cap, the Senators and Yard Goats were tied up 4-4 by the end of the 3rd inning thanks to Justin Connell’s second home run of the day and Jake Alu‘s first of the season. The bad guys scored one in the top of the seventh and the Senators couldn’t respond in the bottom half meaning they split the doubleheader with a 5-4 loss in game two.

Triple-A Rochester Red Wings

It was an offensive shootout to start the game in Rochester. Luis García picked up right where he left off and smoked a two-run homer in the 1st inning to tie the game early. The home run from García marked his third long ball in his last three at bats going back to Tuesday. The Mets came back in the 2nd and retook the lead, but not for long. In the bottom half, Richard Urena grounded out to score Donovan Casey and once again knot it up at 3-3. The Wings pulled ahead in the 4th with a Nick Banks RBI single and Tres Barerra groundout to put them up by two. The Red Wings would then pull away in the 5th and never look back defeating the Syracuse Mets 13-6. Josh Palacios, García, and Casey all notched two hits in the winning effort and Joey Meneses hit his fourth homer of the season. Jefry Rodríguez settled down after surrendering three runs in the first two innings. He would end his day with four walks and nine strikeouts in 4 1/3 innings.

Farm System final notes 🎶

What a night for the Nats’ minor league system. We had gems on the mound, homers, a steal of home, and more! Note: Luis García was pulled from the game in the 6th for what seemed to be a non-injury related reason. With Lucius Fox struggling in Washington D.C., some were speculating that García would be called-up after the game, however a source confirmed to TalkNats that it was the manager’s decision.  
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