Nationals AFL Opening Day Recap

Today the Arizona Fall League opened up and the Nationals had five players enter the game, in a 9-3 loss. Felipe Rivero got the start for the Mesa Solar Sox and pitched four innings, allowed four runs on seven hits, walked two and struck out three. It is not the best outing that he could have asked for, but he can continue to get better through the fall.

The Solar Sox jumped out to a 2-0 lead in the top of the second inning, but Glendale came right back scoring in three straight innings to take the 6-2 lead. Four of those runs were charged to Rivero. Relieving Rivero was Nats reliever Matt Grace who pitched one inning but gave up a pair of runs. Finishing up the pitching for the Nationals Minor Leaguers Derek Self. He pitched a pair of innings, and allowed a run.

None of the Nationals pitchers could pitch a clean performance, but it is just the first game of the fall. On the opposite side the offensive Nats couldn’t get anything going at the plate. Second baseman Tony Renda was in the two-hole and was 0-for-3 with a walk. Finishing up the Nationals performances was catcher Pedro Severino. He also couldn’t put anything into the box score as he finished 0-for-2.

The Solar Sox will be back in action tomorrow at 12:35 MT. The starting pitcher for the game has not been named and Neil Holland is the only National pitcher to appear so far. He could see action tomorrow, so check back for another Arizona Fall League update.