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Potomac Nationals

Mandel Roughed Up as P-Nats Fall to Cats

May 31, 2009 - Carolina League (CarL1)
Potomac Nationals News Release


LYNCHBURG, Va- The P-Nats and Hillcats had split the first two games of their three-game set from City Stadium in Lynchburg, and going into the rubber game of the series, the P-Nats believed they had the decided advantage on the hill with staff ace Jeff Mandel toeing the rubber. Mandel had won six consecutive starts coming into Sunday's contest and boasted a 2.20 ERA, good for second in the Carolina League. In May, he had gone 4-0 with a 1.78 ERA and was holding opponents to a .143 batting average against.

The Hillcats, however, roughed up the P-Nats hurler for six runs in five innings and Chi-Hung Cheng stifled the Nationals through 5 2/3 innings as the Hillcats took game three of the series 6-1 to increase their lead in the Carolina League Northern Division to five games over the P-Nats.

Lynchburg had a solid game plan from the start against Mandel (6-2) by attacking the first pitch from the P-Nats' righty. Mandel threw 13 of 16 first pitch strikes and once the Cats noticed this trend, they came out swinging at that first pitch with positive results. Matt Hague lined a first-pitch single through the hole on the left side of the infield with two outs in the third inning to make it a 2-0 ballgame. Miles Durham followed with a single of his own to put the P-Nats in a 3-0 deficit.

Mandel would settle down, but in the fifth Hague struck again with another RBI single to left-center field and reserve outfielder Maiko Loyola deposited a hard slider from Mandel over the right field wall for a two-run home run to give the Cats a 6-0 lead.

Danny Espinosa would supply all the power the P-Nats could muster on this day by belting his ninth home run of the season, and second in as many days, in the eighth inning off reliever Michael Colla to make it 6-1.

It would be all Hillcats on this day, however, as Lynchburg won their third consecutive series against Potomac, improving to 7-3 against the P-Nats and 19-7 from the cozy confines of City Stadium.

The Nats now head to Salem to take on a struggling Red Sox team who had dropped seven of ten coming into Sunday. First pitch on Monday will be 7:05 ET and you can catch all the action live on www.potomacnationals.com with Dan McGinn and Anthony Masterson starting with the pregame show at 6:45 ET.

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

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Carolina League Stories from May 31, 2009


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