CarL1 Potomac Nationals

P-Nats Game Notes for August 8

Published on August 8, 2009 under Carolina League (CarL1)
Potomac Nationals News Release


POTOMAC NATIONALS (25-16, 62-46) VS. WILMINGTON BLUE ROCKS (25-14, 63-45) LHP Tom Milone (7-4, 3.50) vs. RHP Alex Caldera (4-8, 5.28)

August 8, 2009 -- 6:35 p.m. G. Richard Pfitzner Stadium - Woodbridge, Virginia Game #109/Home #52

TODAY: The Potomac Nationals will try to snap their longest losing streak of the season on a Saturday night from Pfitzner Stadium against the surging Wilmington Blue Rocks. The "Blue Crew" set a new franchise record yesterday by winning their 12th consecutive game to claim first place in the Northern Division that had been occupied by the P-Nats since July 3. Potomac has lost five of their last six contests after finishing off their most successful month of the year in July (21-8). Potomac once led the North by as many as 4.5 games back on July 27.

VS. THE ROCKS: Despite last night's loss, the P-Nats still lead the season series 9-6 over the Blue Rocks including six consecutive victories from April 30-June 15. Potomac did fall to 3-5 on the year against their division rivals from the comforts of Pfitzner Stadium. After being outscored in this series 13-2, the P-Nats team ERA against Wilmington has ballooned from 2.92 to its current state at 3.43. The Nationals offense, meanwhile, is hitting just .274 (down from .297) against Wilmington with Danny Espinosa leading the charge batting .286 with a team-leading 3 HR and 10 RBI against the Rocks. Tim Pahuta's home run on Friday was his first extra-base hit and RBI in nine games this year against the "Blue Crew."

TODAY'S OPPOSING STARTER: RHP Alex Caldera, 23, was selected in the 13th round by the Kansas City Royals in the 2007 amateur player draft out of Chaffey College in Rancho Cucamonga, CA. The well-traveled right-hander also attended UC-Irvine and Citrus College prior to leading Chaffey to a 43-5 mark in 2007 and a Foothill Conference Championship. Last year, his second in the Royals system, Caldera was tied for third among Midwest League pitchers with 12 wins at Low-A Burlington and also finished ninth in the league with his 2.89 ERA. Caldera often played the role of stopper for the Bees down the stretch posting an 8-1 record after the All-Star break with a 2.58 ERA in 73.1 innings pitched. He was undefeated in August (5-0) and opponents hit just .225 against the El Centro, California native in the final full month of the season.

Though just 4-8 with a 5.28 ERA in 2009, Potomac saw Caldera on his best day with the Blue Rocks on May 7th when the righty fanned a season-high 10 P-Nats and yielded just a run on four hits in 6.0 innings of work. The bad news for Caldera was that he was matched against the former P-Nats All-Star Brad Meyers who shutout the "Blue Crew" over seven frames in Potomac's 1-0 victory. Following that tremendous start, Caldera tallied just one win in his next nine outings including losing five consecutive decisions from June 6-30. One of those defeats was to the Nationals again on June 25 where the righty lasted just 4.1 frames allowing three runs on six hits in a 6-0 loss on the first day of the second half. He snapped that skid in July and finished that month going 2-1 with a 2.40 ERA, his lowest month of the season.

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