The Frederick Keys nearly threw a no-hitter. With one out on the board in the ninth, though, Lynchburg outfielder Conner Capel broke it up, not content to let the Hillcats go down without some kind of a fight.
Capel’s RBI double down the left-field line, on the ninth pitch of the at-bat, finally got something going for the Hillcats, but it was way too little way too late, and Lynchburg lost its second straight, 9-1.
Other than the hit, everything went wrong for the Hillcats (14-17) on Tuesday at Harry Grove Stadium, their second game of a seven-game road swing.
The ’Cats gave up a two-run homer to Randolph Gassaway, digging an early hole in the third.
Felix Tati (0-1), in his first appearance with Lynchburg after being called up from Class A Lake County, gave up the homer and four other hits in a five-inning start to take the loss.
Things began to get out of hand in the sixth.
Reliever Ben Krauth faced five batters but only recorded one out, giving up three runs (all earned) on three hits. And Luis Jimenez only briefly stopped the bleeding before the Keys blew it open an inning later.
After finishing out the sixth, Jimenez only recorded one out in the seventh.
He gave up the Keys’ final four runs (two earned) on two hits. He walked one, recorded three wild pitches and hit a batter.
Frederick (14-18) sent eight batters to the plate in the seventh and scored four times to cap the scoring in the blowout.
Chris Clare went 3 for 4 with two RBIs to lead Frederick, and Jomar Reyes and Yojhan Quevedo each added two hits.
In addition to some lackluster pitching, the Hillcats also recorded four errors, matching a season high.
On the other side, Keys starter Brian Gonzalez (2-2) earned the win. He threw 101 pitches in seven hitless innings. He walked two and struck out seven.
Elvis Araujo tried to secure the first no-hitter for the Keys since 2015 but gave up the hit to Capel. He finished with one hit and one earned run — Capel’s double scored Jodd Carter, who reached on a walk. Araujo issued his lone walk to Carter and struck out four.