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CarL1 Potomac Nationals

P-Nats Game Notes for August 23

August 23, 2009 - Carolina League (CarL1)
Potomac Nationals News Release


POTOMAC NATIONALS (33-21, 70-51) VS. SALEM RED SOX (23-29, 55-66) RHP Adam Carr (2-4, 5.16) vs. RHP Seth Garrison (7-10, 3.69) RHP Trevor Holder (1-1, 7.11) vs. LHP Jose Capellan (5-2, 6.14) *DOUBLEHEADER* August 23, 2009 -- 1:05 p.m. G. Richard Pfitzner Stadium - Woodbridge, Virginia Game #122 & 123/Home #58 & 59

TODAY: The Potomac Nationals penultimate homestand of the season finishes with a doubleheader on Sunday afternoon when the P-Nats host the Salem Red Sox for two from Pfitzner Stadium beginning at 1:05 p.m. Because of Saturday's heavy rains the idle Nationals remain a half game behind Wilmington (game suspended) for the final playoff spot in the Northern Division Meanwhile, the Red Sox are just 6-12 in the month of August and have dropped 19 of their last 25 games to fall back into third place in the Southern Division. With that said, Salem still remains just 3.5 games behind Winston-Salem for the top spot in the division and just two back of Kinston who owns the second-best record as well as a playoff spot out South. The Nats and Sox have played two previous twinbills with Potomac going 3-1 in those meetings.

VS. THE SOX: Trent Jewett's ballclub owns a 11-6 advantage in their season series with Salem and erased a year-long offensive struggle against the Red Sox after Friday's blowout win. Prior to the 11-0 triumph in the opener, the Nats were only hitting .231 against the Red Sox with more strikeouts (142) than hits (121) in their 16 previous meetings. The defending champs hit just seven long balls on the season against Salem which was the fewest hit against any other Carolina League opponent while only slugging at a .353 clip against their in-state rivals. But all that changed in three innings on Friday when Potomac went deep five times and pounded a season-high 15 hits on the Sox pitching staff. Notable among the P-Nats batting order is leadoff man Michael Martinez who is hitting .467 (7-for-15) with 2 2B, 1 HR and 6 RBI in only four games with the Red Sox. *FAST FACT: In 17 matchups with one another, nine of the games have been decided by three or fewer runs with Potomac going 7-2 in those "close encounters."

TODAY'S OPPOSING STARTERS: RHP Seth Garrison, 23, was the 23rd round pick of the Boston Red Sox in the 2008 First-Year Player Draft out of Texas Christian University. Standing 6-5 and weighing 220 pounds, this Dalton, TX native spent all of 2008 as a reliever for the Lowell Spinners of the New York-Penn League (SS-A). In 22 games out of the bullpen, Garrison was 2-1 with a dynamic 1.45 ERA while holding opponents to just a .189 batting average against. He led the Spinners in appearances (22) and saved a team-high nine ballgames in his first professional season while fanning 26 in 31.0 IP. He started his collegiate career at Arizona St. in 2005 where he was a member of the Sun Devils team that participated in the College World Series. Garrison did not play in the CWS due to an emergency appendectomy.

Garrison was just 2-7 with a 5.16 ERA in the first half which included a six-game losing streak from May 9 through June 9. But the Texan turned things around after the All-Star break going 5-3 with a 2.09 ERA including wins in five of his first six starts in the second half. Garrison has walked just 10 batters in his last 56.0 innings of work and had a blistering July in which the right-hander was 4-1 with a 1.42 ERA helping the Red Sox remain in playoff contention. One of those wins came at the expense of Potomac who Garrison baffled over six frames from Pfitzner Stadium on July 24 allowing just one run on two hits while striking out six in a 5-1 Salem triumph. Overall, against Trent Jewett's lineup, the former Sun Devil and Horned Frog has made four appearances (three starts) going 1-1 with a 7.20 ERA.

In game two, LHP Jose Capellan, who signed as a non-drafted free agent by the Boston Red Sox on July 16, 2003 from San Francisco de Macoris, Dominican Republic gets the ball for Salem. The southpaw was 3-6 with a 4.65 ERA in 15 games, all starts, with Low-A Greenville last season. The southpaw is 5-2 this year, his first in the Carolina League, but has not been a full-time starting pitcher since May when lost his spot in the rotation after posting a 7.40 ERA in 10 starts. Capellan has been susceptible to the long ball this season serving up 11 tall jacks in 80.2 IP. He's been much more effective as a reliever (2-0, 1SV, 5.32ERA, 12G) than as a starter (3-2, 6.47ERA) in 2009. In his one and only outing against Potomac, Capellan was touched for five runs on seven hits in 5.0 frames in a no-decision on May 14.

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