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Potomac Nationals

Nationals Game Notes July 16th

July 16, 2009 - Carolina League (CarL1)
Potomac Nationals News Release


The Potomac Nationals look to break out the brooms against the Lynchburg Hillcats in the finale of their four-game set from Pfitzner Stadium on Thursday night, beginning at 7:05 pm. The P-Nats clinched their first series victory over the Hillcats since taking two of three from Lynchburg last season in a three-game series from July 17-19. The Hillcats won all three series between the two clubs during the first half and Lynchburg cruised into a playoff spot by winning the division by seven whole games. The tide seems to be turning however in this season series as Trent Jewett's club has won five of the last seven meetings with the Cats after going 1-5 against their North Division rivals to begin the year.

TODAY'S OPPOSING STARTER: LHP Chi-Hung Cheng, 23, was signed as a minor league free agent by the Pittsburgh Pirates on 12/21/08 after spending his previous five seasons in the Toronto Blue Jays organization. Cheng makes his residence in Kaohsiung City, Taiwan and was the Blue Jays organization Pitcher-of-the-Month for both July and August during his 11-5 campaign with Lansing in 2006. That season, Cheng finished 3rd in the Midwest League with his 154 strikeouts in 143.1 IP and 5th in ERA at 2.70. He was limited to just seven starts in 2007 and had a disappointing 2008 with Lansing posting a 5-9 record with a 4.88 ERA in 25 games, 14 starts with the Lugnuts. Cheng is hoping to bounce back to his ‘06 form for the Pirates' system.

In the first half, it appeared Cheng did return to his glory days with the Jays by going 6-2 with 3.49 ERA in 15 appearances (11 starts) with Lynchburg. He struck out a season-high six Blue Rocks in his first victory on April 17 and won his final three decisions heading into the break to go 6-2 for the first-place Hillcats. He's pitched three separate times against the P-Nats this year and has not allowed a single run in 10.2 IP against the defending Mills Cup Champions. In those meetings, all Cats wins, Cheng has surrendered just seven hits with only one (a double by Danny Espinosa on Opening Night) going for extra-bases. With that said, he is coming off an outing in which he yielded a season-high 12 hits including two home runs in his last start against Winston-Salem on July 11.

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