VIENNA, VA—The Senators did not play their best baseball on Wednesday night, and the Herndon Braves took advantage of it. The Braves mounted a late game rally to defeat the Senators 7-6 at Waters Field. The loss drops the Senators two games behind the streaking Braves in the second half standings.
It looked like it was going to be a bad day for the Senators from the start when the Braves took a 1-0 lead in the first inning on an error by the Senator second baseman.
The Senators showed their fight as they tied the game in the bottom of the first. Guillermo Martinez started the rally by hitting a single into leftfield. He then stole second to move into scoring position. Two batters later, Justin Bunkis singled to drive in Martinez and tie the game at 1-1.
Herndon tacked on two more runs in the second inning as the Senators made some uncharacteristic errors. Joe Lake walked to start the inning and moved to second on a Ricky LaFrance single. He then scored when the Senator second baseman threw the ball away at second base on a routine force out to make the score 2-1. LaFrance moved to third on the throwing error and scored when Ryan Considine grounded out to the second baseman to make the score 3-1.
The Senators cut the lead in half in the bottom of the second inning. Kevin Hansen and Wes Schirtzinger both singled to start the inning. With Hansen on second and Schirtzinger on first, Leighton Autrey drew a walk to load the bases. Two batters later, Michael Rivera drove in Hansen with a sacrifice fly to centerfield. Hansen’s run made the score 3-2 after two innings.
The Senators seemingly took control of the game in the fourth inning when they scored four runs to take a 6-3 lead. With two outs, Rivera singled. Martinez followed with a single to move Rivera to second. Tim Guidry then doubled to drive in both Rivera and Martinez and make the score 4-3. Justin Bunkis followed with a monstrous homerun over the centerfield wall to make the score 6-3. A three run lead is usually enough for the Senator bullpen.
In the top of the ninth inning, the Senators beat themselves. Considine singled to start the inning. Nate Parks followed by drawing a walk to put men on first and second. Joe Palumbo grounded out to the second baseman for the first out of the inning. Palumbo’s out advanced each runner one base, placing men on second and third. The Senators brought in the reliable Mark Dutmers to finish off the Braves, but Herndon had a different idea. Considine scored on Dutmers’ first pitch as it got by catcher Scott Scudder. Parks advanced to third on the passed ball. Considine’s run made the score 6-4. Kellen Kulbacki followed by doubling down the right field line to drive in parks and make the score 6-5. TJ Cataldo then hit a ground ball to Dutmers, who decided to throw the ball to third instead of getting the sure out at first. His throw got by the third baseman, allowing Kulbacki to score and tie the game. The Senators had an opportunity to get Kulbacki at home when he slipped, but Scudder was not able to hold onto the throw as Kulbacki crossed home plate. Cataldo advanced to second on the throw home. The Senator coaching staff then brought Will Naylor to get the Senators out of the inning. Naylor threw a wild pitch to his first batter, allowing Cataldo to move to third. Matt Hacker then hit a sacrifice fly to left field, scoring Cataldo from third and making the score 7-6 in favor of the Braves.
The Senators were not able come back and score any runs in the ninth. The loss drops the Senators to 19-5 overall and 2-2 in the second half. Bunkis, Martinez, and Hansen all finished with three hits for the Senators. The Senators are off tomorrow, but return to action on Friday night as they take on the Nationals at home. Come out and cheer on the Senators under the trees at Waters Field. The game is scheduled to start at 7 p.m.