CarL1 Salem RidgeYaks

Potomac Evens Series With 4-2 Triumph on Wednesday Evening

Published on May 13, 2009 under Carolina League (CarL1)
Salem RidgeYaks News Release


Woodbridge, VA (May 13, 2009)- Behind six and a third superb innings from starter Jeff Mandel, the Potomac Nationals doubled up the Salem Sox 4-2 to win their 20th game of the season in midweek baseball action at Pfitzner Stadium. Mandel allowed just one run on three hits while keeping Red Sox batters off balance throughout his outing, improving to 4-1 on the season.

Offensively, the P-Nats received more than enough pop on a single swing from Danny Espinosa in the last of the third inning. With two on and nobody out, the Nationals shortstop prospect golfed a low fastball over the 400-foot center field fence for his sixth homer of the year. This came one inning after Potomac scrapped their first run off of Salem starter Kyle Weiland, and Espinosa's gargantuan blast made it 4-0. Though the National bats were subdued the rest of the way, the Salem attack was latent for most of the night.

The lone Red Sox runs came on a two-out Jon Hee double off of Nationals reliever Atahualpa Severino in the top of the seventh. With one out, Mandel walked Mike Jones and was removed from the ballgame. Severino entered, walked Che-Hsuan Lin to put two runners on, and struck out Luis Exposito for the second out of the inning. Hee was able to connect on a two-bagger down the right-field line, extending his hitting streak to nine games and breaking up the shutout. The Red Sox mustered a small surge in the eighth inning by putting the tying runners on base for Jones. Severino induced the inning-ending grounder to finish the frame, and Clint Everts pitched a perfect ninth inning with two strikeouts to finalize the result.

For the second straight day, Salem's bullpen tossed three scoreless frames. Jason Rice struck out four over two innings, while Derrick Loop lowered his season ERA to 1.19 with a perfect eight inning for the Red Sox.

Sean Rooney led the Potomac offense with three singles in three at-bats. Rooney also drove-in the first run of the game in the second-inning, setting the stage for the Espinosa homer that broke it open in the third.

The brief three-game road trip will conclude on Thursday with the rubber game of the series against the Nationals. Lefthander Jose Capellan makes the start for Salem, while righthander Brad Meyers, the league's leading ERA-man who owns a 20.2 consecutive scoreless innings streak on the hill, takes the ball for Potomac. First pitch for the finale is 7:05.

Check out the Salem RidgeYaks Statistics

Share: Facebook | Twitter/X | LinkedIn | Reddit | Email



Carolina League Stories from May 13, 2009


The opinions expressed in this release are those of the organization issuing it, and do not necessarily reflect the thoughts or opinions of OurSports Central or its staff.

OurSports Central