CarL1 Potomac Nationals

Cats Scratch Back as Nats Fall in Lynchburg

July 22, 2009 - Carolina League (CarL1)
Potomac Nationals News Release


LYNCHBURG- Va- The Potomac Nationals have run into a house of horrors at City Stadium in Lynchburg, failing to come out of their division rival's home with a series win since April of 2008. After their 5-4 victory in game one of the three game set on Tuesday, the P-Nats took to the field looking to exorcise their City Stadium demons, but an unlikely cast of characters left the P-Nats wishing for an alternate ending in a 6-3 loss to the Hillcats.

Tom Milone got the nod for the P-Nats and pitched through traffic on the basepaths all day. In his five innings of work, Milone allowed 10 hits but just three runs while striking out four. The lefty kept the team in the ballgame long enough for the offense to finally break through.

Down 2-0 after a pair of Hillcat triples put the home team on the board, Erik Huber lined a single in the bottom of the fourth inning to push the Hillcat lead to 3-0. The P-Nats then found a way to claw their way back in the ballgame for the second consecutive night after falling behind early.

A pair of bunt base hits and an error from Hillcat starter Chi-Hung Cheng put runners on second and third with one out in the fifth inning which set the table for leadoff hitter Dan Nelson. After Tuesday's 3-for-5 performance, Nelson stayed hot, lining a single to center to plate a pair of P-Nats, cutting the deficit to 3-2.

A Francisco Plasencia single to right tied the game off reliever Harrison Bishop (2-3) in the sixth inning, but an unfortunate stroke of luck would strangle Potomac's momentum in this contest. With Brian Peacock batting and Plasencia on second base, Plasencia took off for third base with his eyes set on a stolen base. Plasencia had the base stolen, but Peacock swung at the Bishop offering, lining it hard towards left field. The hit would have gone into the outfield, scoring Plasencia and giving the P-Nats the lead, but the ball hit the heel of Francisco's foot, resulting in an automatic out and an end to the promising inning.

In the next half inning, Ciro Rosero blooped a double down the right field line to score Jared Keel with the go-ahead run, and the Hillcats would never look back. They would tag two more on the board in the bottom of the eighth to push the score to 6-3, and R.J. Rodriguez would shut the door in the ninth for his league-leading 18th save of the season.

The bottom four hitters in the Hillcat lineup went 9-for-14 in the contest with six runs scored, four doubles, one triple, and four RBI.

The P-Nats will go for the series win Thursday evening with first pitch scheduled for 7:05 ET. You can catch all the action live on www.potomacnationals.com with Dan McGinn and Anthony Masterson starting with the Potomac Nationals pregame show at 6:45 ET.

For more information on tickets, daily promotions, and all things P-Nats, call (703) 590-2311 or log onto www.potomacnationals.com to join the party!

Check out the Potomac Nationals Statistics



Carolina League Stories from July 22, 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