Worrell homers twice as ‘Jackets take down FredNats

*Fayetteville, NC* – The Augusta GreenJackets (Atlanta Braves) opened up their season series with the Fredericksburg Nationals (Washington Nationals) on Tuesday, returning to SRP Park for the first time since the all-star break. Fredericksburg (7-11, 37-44) surrendered three homers to Augusta (9-10, 40-44), who held the Nationals hitless from the fifth inning on in a 6-2 win. 

Luis Vargas made his first start for Augusta since September of 2022, and he returned to form with a 1-2-3 first inning. The teams remained scoreless until the bottom of the second inning. Andrew Keck laced a double to left field off of Fredericksburg starter Luke Young, before Jose Dilone recorded his first Augusta extra-base hit, hammering a double off the wall in right field to score Keck comfortably. The 1-0 lead would not last, though, as Fredericksburg equalized in the top of the second on a balk from Vargas. 

Augusta, clearly intent on retaking the lead, did just that in the following frame. Ambioris Tavarez hit the first pitch of the bottom of the third for a homer, before Bryson Worrell followed him up three pitches later with a homer of his own. The back-to-back jacks gave Augusta a 3-1 lead, and marked the first such occasion on the season for the GreenJackets. The FredNats got a run back in the fifth after a stolen base led to a fielding error, but the GreenJackets got a leadoff triple from Tavarez and Worrell’s second homer of the day to extend the lead to 5-2 in the bottom of the inning. 

Vargas concluded his outing after five innings of two-run ball, and Ronaldo Alesandro followed him up with a scoreless frame of his own. Estarlin Rodriguez was the next man to throw for the GreenJackets, and he went two innings without allowing a baserunner. The GreenJackets added an insurance run in the bottom of the seventh on a Cory Acton RBI single, and Jason Franks entered in the ninth and sealed the deal with a pair of strikeouts. 

Augusta remains at home to take on the FredNats for five more games! Promotions include a Spencer Strider Bobblehead giveaway, Thursday night fireworks, and more! To purchase tickets and learn more about the week’s homestand, visit https://www.milb.com/augusta/fans/gj-homestand-preview.