The Fredericksburg Nationals entered the month of September with hopes of making the 2023 playoffs, however, they split a doubleheader against the Delmarva Shorebirds, and the loss in the second game officially eliminated the team from playoff contention.

In the first game of the evening, Delmarva took the lead in the bottom of the first. Jalen Vasquez got the frame off to a hot start with a leadoff triple and immediately scored on a double by Anderson De Los Santos. Jake Cunningham followed with a liner to left field, which put the Shorebirds in front 2-0 just three batters into the game.

Delmarva starter Juan De Los Santos was cruising through four shutout frames against the Fredericksburg Nationals, but that changed in the top of the fifth. He hit Leandro Emiliani, walked Roismar Quintana, then drilled Armando Cruz to load the bases with nobody out for John McHenry. John made him pay with a grounder that got through into center field and brought both Emiliani and Quintana in to score, tying the game at 2-2. Delmarva turned the ball over to Brayner Sanchez after that, but he allowed two more runs to score on an E4 and a fielder’s choice. Cristhian Vaquero then made it a 5-2 ballgame with his single to right field.

The Shorebirds responded in the bottom of the inning with an RBI single, then pulled to within a run with a solo home run in the sixth inning. But Marquis Grissom Jr. worked a flawless seventh inning to preserve a 5-4 FredNat win. He got his 10th save of the year behind Kevin Rodriguez’s fourth win, while De Los Santos suffered his 10th loss this year.

In game two, Delmarva again grabbed the early lead with a first-inning solo shot from Stiven Acevedo.

Then in the top of the second, Roismar Quintana went deep himself to tie the game at 1-1. And in the third, after Tuda Thomas got hit by a pitch and stole second base, Elijah Nunez doubled to bring Thomas around and give the Freddies a 2-1 edge.

Jefrem Leon held the ‘Birds to just one run in four innings, as he twirled a gem in his FredNat debut. However, the Shorebirds found more success against Thomas Schultz. He walked the leadoff man Erison Placencia, who then stole second base and moved to third on an errant throw from catcher Geraldi Diaz. After Luis Valdez also walked, Acevedo drove in his second run of the game with a game-tying single. He then stole second base to put runners on the corners, when a wild pitch allowed Valdez to score from third. Acevedo had taken third base on the sequence, and he scored when Anderson De Los Santos put a ball in play to the shortstop to make it 3-2 Delmarva.

Bubba Hall began the sixth for Fredericksburg and quickly allowed a leadoff walk followed by back-to-back singles to drive in a run. After a walk, Adam Crampton delivered a two-run double that made it 7-2 Delmarva. Later, Acevedo picked up his own two-run double to put the Shorebirds up 9-2.

The Nats added one more run late but went on to fall by a final score of 9-3. Braxton Bragg took the win, Blake Money got his first professional save, and Thomas Schultz dropped to 0-2 on the season. RHP Mikey Tepper gets the ball for the Nats today, against Carter Baulmer.

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