CarL1 Potomac Nationals

Nats Let Game Two Slip Away

Published on June 26, 2009 under Carolina League (CarL1)
Potomac Nationals News Release


WILMINGTON, De.- In the first five games between the P-Nats and Blue Rocks from Frawley Stadium, the pitchers had ruled the roost, leaving the men with the bats out in the cold. Potomac had won all five meetings with the Blue Crew in Wilmington, four coming via the shutout including Thursday's series opener. Friday night's game two, however, contained 15 runs, 24 hits, three errors, two balks, and a plethora of wild pitches with the P-Nats taking the short end of the stick, falling to Wilmington 8-7.

It was billed as a prime-time pitching matchup between two of the top lefties in the Carolina League in Tom Milone and Danny Duffy, but neither pitcher would stick around to see the end of the fifth inning. Potomac would actually strike first, tallying three runs in the top of the initial inning. Sean Rooney and Michael Burgess would single, and Chris Marrero would follow with an RBI single to put the P-Nats ahead 1-0. A walk to Francisco Plasencia would load the bases for Stephen King, the Nats' hottest hitter in the month of June, who looped a two-run single to right field to give Milone a 3-0 cushion.

The southpaw from Southern California could not duplicate his fellow lefty Will Atwood's performance on Thursday night in which Atwood baffled the Blue Rocks for seven shutout innings. Milone (3-3) allowed a leadoff triple in the first to Derrick Robinson who would score on a Mike Moustakas sacrifice fly. In the bottom of the third, Robinson would bloop a leadoff single to right and come around to score on a Johnny Giavotella double. With runners on first and third, a controversial balk call from the newest umpire in the Carolina League would push the go-ahead run across as the Rocks would take a 5-3 advantage.

The P-Nats would strike back on Supervillain Night at Frawley Stadium in the top of the fourth when Rooney would lace a two-run single to left field to tie the game. Danny Espinosa would follow Rooney's single with a blast to left-center field as Espy would scamper around the bases for a triple, scoring Rooney and giving the P-Nats a 6-5 lead, chasing Futures Game participant Danny Duffy from the contest.

In the bottom of the fifth, Potomac's sloppy play would finally come back to haunt the visiting ballclub. With runners on the corners, Anthony Seratelli would shoot a grounder down to third base. Stephen King made a stellar diving stop and got to his feet to make the throw to second, but Dan Nelson was unable to handle King's offering. A run scored on the play, allowing Moustakas to take third base. The Royals' top prospect would score on a Milone wild pitch, taking the lefty out of the ballgame and giving the lead back to Wilmington.

It would be a lead the team would not relinquish.

The Rocks would add another run on a wild pitch in the seventh to push the lead to 8-6.

The Nats made it interesting in the ninth as Burgess took a walk from Juan Abreu and reached third base when Abreu airmailed a pickoff throw to first. Burgess scored on a balk in a turnabout of fair play, but Abreu struck out Francisco Plasencia swinging to end the ballgame.

Kelvin Villa threw three scoreless frames in relief of Duffy to earn his second victory of the season.

The P-Nats had some sloppy baserunning, getting two runners thrown out at third base, one runner caught stealing at second, and another gunned down at home plate while Moustakas scored three runs on two wild pitches and a balk.

Potomac did, however, record 14 hits, and six batters in the P-Nats lineup recorded multi-hit games.

There will be a rubber match between these two teams Saturday night at 6:05 ET. You can hear all the action live on www.potomacnationals.com with Dan McGinn and Anthony Masterson starting with the pregame show at 5:45 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!

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Carolina League Stories from June 26, 2009


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