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CarL1 Potomac Nationals

P-Nats Headed Back to Playoffs

September 1, 2011 - Carolina League (CarL1)
Potomac Nationals News Release


(LYNCHBURG, VA) The Potomac Nationals earned a chance to defend their Carolina League championship with a 6-3 win on Wednesday night in Lynchburg. Adam Olbrychowski was brilliant into the eighth inning, the offense cashed in on a critical error by Andrelton Simmons, and the P-Nats locked up a playoff berth at City Stadium.

On a night where both starting pitchers were locked in early, the Nationals rode a pair of two-out rallies to victory. In the third, three consecutive two-out singles staked the Nationals to a 1-0 lead. The way Olbrychowski looked early, it appeared that a single run might hold up.

But Barrett Kleinknecht tied the game with a solo home run in the fourth, and the game stayed tied for four more innings. Eliecer Cardenas - who was ejected for his role in Tuesday night's benches-clearing event - came on to pitch in the seventh in relief of David Hale. Card struck out a pair to open the inning, but Zach Walters and Sandy Leon roped consecutive singles. Sean Nicol then hit a ground ball to Simmons at shortstop. Simmons short-armed the throw to first and Joey Terdoslavich was unable to pick it. The error allowed Walters to score - and the Nationals would pile on from there.

Cardenas then walked Eury Perez and Francisco Soriano to bring in another run. Ryan Buchter then came on to pitch, and Jeff Kobernus greeted him with a two-run single to left field that made it 5-1 Nationals.

Potomac tacked on an insurance run in the ninth inning. Bloxom and Souza singled to open the frame, and both moved into scoring position on a Buchter wild pitch. Walters then drove in Bloxom with a ground ball to short.

The Nationals magic number - the term commonly used in baseball vernacular to distinguish the number of wins needed to clinch a playoff berth - was one heading into Wednesday's game, and with the victory, Potomac eliminated the Hillcats from the playoff race.

And yet the P-Nats have plenty to play for beginning on Thursday night. With Frederick's loss in Kinston, Potomac is within one and a half games of the Keys for the second half title, which determines home-field advantage in the Divisional Series.

The Nationals continue their series in Lynchburg Thursday night at 7:05.

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