Cold bats cost 'Cats in the standings

No need to panic just yet, but that’s two straight subpar performances by the Lynchburg Hillcats’ lineup.

Potomac’s pitching silenced Lynchburg’s bats for the second straight night Saturday in a 4-2 victory in front of a paid attendance of 5,366 fans at City Stadium.

The Nationals ended a four-game Hillcats win streak and gained a game in the Carolina League’s Northern Division standings.

“You don’t want to read too much into it. … I think the last two days, we’ve gotten a little out of our game and swung at some pitches that we haven’t swung at in games past. I think they’re trying to do too much, and they’re not believing in themselves,” Lynchburg manager P.J. Forbes said.

“Our message is to stay positive. We’ll come back (today) and get after it.”

Lynchburg (31-17), which will attempt to polish off its 11th series win of the season today at 2:05 p.m., still holds a four-game lead over Potomac (26-20). The Nationals have beaten the Hillcats only three times in nine meetings this season.

Lynchburg scored one run against Carolina League ERA leader Bradley Meyers on Friday night, but it still managed a 1-0 victory. It struggled almost as badly Saturday against Nationals southpaw starter Will Atwood, who sported a robust 6.99 ERA entering the game.

The Hillcats didn’t trail in the first four games (all wins) of their current six-game homestand, but they found themselves down 3-1 in the sixth Saturday. Atwood held them to two runs on five hits, and relievers Adam Carr and Atahualpa Severino finished the job.

“I can’t remember us struggling at the plate two days in a row like we did yesterday and today,” Forbes said. “I just want them to continue to play relaxed and don’t worry about who we’re playing.”

The top third of Lynchburg’s lineup went 4 for 11 with an RBI and two runs scored, but the bottom six batters went a combined 2 for 21.

Potomac, meanwhile, struck for 10 hits. Center fielder Boomer Whiting, shortstop Danny Espinosa and catcher Sean Rooney each tallied two hits.

Espinosa struck the biggest blow in the sixth inning with a two-run home run over the right field wall against Hillcats starter Ronald Uviedo. That gave the Nationals a 3-1 lead.

“I thought he made a good pitch, and I thought Espinosa put a good swing on it,” Forbes said. “It wasn’t like it was up. It was down and in and he was ready for it.”

Lynchburg third baseman Pedro Alvarez, who went 2 for 4 against a couple of left-handed pitchers, hit a double in the bottom half of the sixth and scored on Miles Durham’s RBI groundout to make it 3-2.

Potomac went up 4-2 in the seventh on designated hitter Chris Marrero’s sacrifice fly to score Dan Nelson.

Uviedo (2-3) allowed only two baserunners in the first four innings, but the Nationals struck for a run in the fifth and two in the sixth. All three of his losses this season have come against Potomac.

If the Hillcats’ bats break out of their slump today, it’ll be against Nationals starter Jeff Mandel, who is 6-1 and has the second-best ERA in the Carolina League (2.20).

Forbes said he doesn’t plan any major changes to the lineup. Outfielder Maiko Loyola is expected to be in the lineup and Joel Collins will likely give Kris Watts a breather at catcher.

“We’ve just got to get back to believing in ourselves and trusting what we’re doing,” Forbes said.