Matt Fitzgibbon tossed five shutout innings in what was likely his final Silver Knights start Friday night at New Britain. (Telegraph file photo by TOM KING)

NEW BRITAIN, Conn. — Buzz kill.

Currently sitting in third place in the Futures League, the Nashua Silver Knights know that every win matters as August approaches — and Friday they showed exactly the fight a playoff team needs as they drew a big victory on the road at the New Britain Bees, 4-0, and likely said good-bye to one of their best starting pitchers in the process.

The Knights (21-18) would trot onto the field before a New Britain Stadium crowd of 1,762 and get to work fairly early, as the pitching was again dominant for them, along with the bats (12 hits). They increased their hold on third place as well, as the fourth-place Bees fell to 17-20. Nashua heads to Westfield tonight.

The pitching last night would all start with Matt Fitzgibbon who has been Mr. Reliable for the Knights this year. Fitzgibbon, who didn’t allow a hit in six innings on July 4, was great again as he was able to toss a shutout in his five innings of work. He also threw in eight strikeouts while allowing six hits. However, according to Nashua manager Nick Guarino, Fitzgibbon has reached his start/innings limit imposed by his school, St. Joseph’s (Pa.), and last night was very likely his final start.

The bats would not help out Fitzgibbon a lot, however, but in the third Nashua was able to gain some momentum. The Knights would get Jack Balcer to third base and he would score on a sacrifice fly from Will Burns to give them a lead. Nashua would tack on more in the fifth as this time it got a big rally started. Patrick Shrake (4 for 5, run) and Burns would both get aboard to start the inning with singles. Shrake would advance to third on the Burns single and would be driven in by Joe Zorc on a sacrifice fly to double the Knights’ lead. They would tack on one more before the inning was over as Nigel Sebastianelli would single in a run to make it 3-0. Balcer added an RBI single in the eighth.

Meanwhile, Nashua South alum and former Rivier hurler Nolan Mederos would come into the game following Fitzgibbon and he was superb as he continued the dominance on the mound. He would get an extra run from the offense in the 8th by Balcer to get another insurance run.

Mederos in his four innings of work was perfect as he allowed only two runners to reach base on a walk and hit-by-pitch, sealing a big Knights win on the road.