CarL1 Potomac Nationals

Potomac Nationals Game Notes

Published on September 11, 2008 under Carolina League (CarL1)
Potomac Nationals News Release


POTOMAC NATIONALS (4-1, 79-61) VS. MYRTLE BEACH PELICANS (4-2, 89-51)

LHP ROSS DETWILER (8-8, 4.86) VS. RHP RYNE REYNOSO (10-6, 3.36)

September 11, 2008 -- 7:05 p.m.

G. Richard Pfitzner Stadium

Mills Cup Finals Game #3

Internet Webcast -- www.potomacnationals.com

TONIGHT: The Potomac Nationals and Myrtle Beach Pelicans meet in Game 3 of the best-of-five Mills Cup Finals...The P-Nats fell behind early, 6-0, and fell short in their attempt to rally back dropping Game 2 of the series 6-4.

TONIGHT'S STARTER: The Potomac Nationals send left-hander Ross Detwiler to the mound in a pivotal Game 3 with the series tied at one...In his last outing, he was the winning pitcher in Game 3 of the Northern Division Championship Series by hurling 5 1/3 scoreless innings and allowing only two hits while striking out four and walking five...Detwiler helped the P-Nats clinch the second half Northern Division title on August 29 in Wilmington by tossing six innings and allowing just one run on four hits...The 22-year-old also helped the P-Nats clinch the first-half Northern Division title on June 9 by tossing five innings and allowing three runs on four hits in a victory over the Winston-Salem Warthogs...Following that outing, Detwiler went 0-4 with three no-decisions over his next seven starts, allowing 24 runs, 20 earned, on 42 hits while striking out 26 and walking 14 in 36 innings (5.00 ERA)...The former first-round pick snapped his winless streak on July 29 against Wilmington by firing six innings and giving up just one run on six hits while striking out six and walking only one...This season against the Pelicans, the St. Louis-native is 1-1 with a 6.43 ERA in three starts...He has allowed 10 runs on 15 hits in just 14 innings of work while striking out 14 and walking 11...Detwiler has faired better on the road than at home, going 4-3 with a 3.51 ERA in 11 starts on the road as opposed to a 4-5 mark with a 5.82 ERA in 15 outings at home...Detwiler missed two starts this season: June 14 at Frederick (stomach sickness) and August 8 at Winston-Salem (back spasms).

FINALS PREVIEW: The Potomac Nationals and Myrtle Beach Pelicans meet for the Mills Cup Championship...The P-Nats were 11-9 against the Pelicans this season, the only team in the Carolina League to post a winning record against Myrtle Beach....While the Birds outscored the P-Nats 90-70, 14 of the 20 games in the regular season series were decided by just three runs and Potomac was 11-3 in those contests...Myrtle Beach out-hit Potomac posting a .241 batting average against the Nationals as opposed to a .222 average for the P-Nats...The Pelicans also posted a sub-three ERA at 2.97 against the Northern Division Champs compared to the Nationals 4.10 ERA...Potomac made the fewest errors during the season (131) as opposed to Myrtle Beach's league-high 173.

POTOMAC IN THE POSTSEASON: The postseason appearance by the P-Nats is just the sixth in the 31-year history of the Alexandria/Prince William/Potomac franchise (1982, 1989, 1991, 1995, 2004)...the Carolina League playoffs return to Pfitzner Stadium for the first time since 2004 when the Potomac Cannons dropped two of three games to the Wilmington Blue Rocks...The franchise has not played in the Mills Cup finals since winning its last league title in 1989...The 1982 Alexandria Dukes and 1989 Prince William Cannons are the only two teams in franchise history to ever win a Carolina League Championship.

HISTORY IN THE MAKING: With August 29th's clinching win over Wilmington, the Potomac Nationals, became the first team in the 31-year history of the franchise to win both halves...The club is also the first full-season Washington Nationals affiliate ever to advance to the postseason.

THE FEW AND THE PROUD: Only 12 active members remain on the P-Nats roster for the club that clinched the first half title on June 9 against Winston-Salem...Just six players for Opening Day remain on the active roster and four of those (Detwiler, Wilkie, Martinez, and Brown) have been on the roster the entire season...Potomac has had a record 67 different players, counting eight rehabs, in uniform this season...The club has used 17 different starting pitchers not counting rehabs.

WIRE TO WIRE: The Potomac Nationals have only spent two days were they were not in or had a share of the division lead since moving to the top spot on April 10...Potomac had a string of 91 straight days in first place snapped with a 4-1 loss to Wilmington on July 9...Last season the Nationals spent 31 consecutive days in first from April 5 through May 5...The P-Nats ended the first half in last place, 10 games under .500 and only saw first place for one day, June 21, after May 5.

JUST MISSED: The Potomac Nationals fell one win shy of the franchise record for most victories in a single season with 79...The most wins in a season came in 1982 when the Alexandria Dukes won 80 games...On August 12 the P-Nats became just the eighth team in the 31-year history of the Alexandria/Prince William/Potomac franchise to win at least 70 games...The last time the franchise netted at least 70 wins was 1998 when it was still known as the Prince William Cannons...The win marked the first time the franchise won 70 games in a season since changing its name to Potomac in 1999.

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