CarL1 Potomac Nationals

Nats Turn Rocks Blue in Thumping of Wilmington

Published on August 14, 2009 under Carolina League (CarL1)
Potomac Nationals News Release


WILMINGTON, De- In what was billed as a must-win for a Potomac Nationals ballclub who had dropped seven of their last ten ballgames, the Nats needed to come out and let the first-place Blue Rocks know that it will be a two-team race to the Northern Division Second-Half Championship. The P-Nats made their statement in game one of their three-game series from Frawley Stadium, thumping the Wilmington Blue Rocks 8-1 to cut the Blue Rock divisional lead to 1 1/2 games.

Though the offense exploded for eight runs against the top pitching staff in the Carolina League, the story in game one was P-Nat starter Tom Milone. In winning his fourth straight start, Milone (9-4) tossed seven brilliant innings, allowing just an unearned run on a mere four hits. The Southern Californian southpaw struck out six without walking a Blue Rock batter. In his last two starts, both coming against Wilmington, Milone has gone 2-0, pitching 13 1/3 innings while allowing just one unearned run on ten hits with one walk and 12 strikeouts.

Milone was the beneficiary of an offensive outburst from the P-Nats offense as the team pushed five runs across in the first two innings off Mario Santiago (6-12). Danny Espinosa walked, advanced to second base on a groundout, and came around to score on a Michael Burgess single down the right-field line to give the P-Nats an early 1-0 lead.

They would break it open in the top of the second when Tim Pahuta knocked an opposite field home run into the Potomac bullpen, his seventh of the season, to begin an excellent night for the third baseman playing with plenty of family and friends in attendance. Pahuta went 3-for-4 with two RBI and scored a pair of runs, finishing a triple shy of the cycle.

Devin Ivany and Boomer Whiting reached following Pahuta's solo shot, and Michael Martinez roped a double to the right-centerfield gap to score both runs and push the lead to 4-0. Jesus Valdez singled Martinez home to give the P-Nats a seemingly insurmountable 5-0 lead.

With Milone on the hill, those runs would prove plenty as he kept throwing up zeroes on the board. The P-Nats would not score again until the ninth inning when they plated three more on a Pahuta double, a sacrifice fly, and wacky play which began with a Mike Moustakas error at third base. Cole Kimball and Patrick McCoy threw two spotless frames in relief of Milone to close out the contest and give the Nats a statement victory over the first place Blue Rocks.

The bottom third of the Potomac lineup (Pahuta, Ivany, and Boomer Whiting) combined to go 5-for-9 with three RBI and four runs scored.

These two teams will be back tomorrow for game two with first pitch slated for 6:05 ET. You can catch all the action live on www.potomacnationals.com with Dan McGinn and Anthony Masterson starting with the pregame show at 5:45 ET.

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Carolina League Stories from August 14, 2009


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