CarL1 Potomac Nationals

P-Nats Squeak By Sox in Marathon Contest

Published on June 2, 2009 under Carolina League (CarL1)
Potomac Nationals News Release


SALEM, Va- In a marathon effort between Potomac and Salem, nine innings were not enough to decide a victor. As the time ticked away and the eleven o'clock hour passed, it was the newest pitcher on manager Trent Jewett's staff getting the call with a one run lead to shut down a Salem offense that had already committed a thrilling comeback. The Carolina League rookie, however, had ice in his veins, notching the last six outs in the P-Nats 9-8 victory over the Red Sox.

The P-Nats plated a single run in each of the first four innings thanks to a couple of two-out base hits by Sean Rooney and Danny Espinosa, and an RBI double by Stephen King to give Potomac a 3-0 lead.

Tom Milone began the contest on the hill for the P-Nats, and he looked sharp early. He set down the first eight men he faced, but ran into trouble with two outs in the third, allowing three runs to tie the game. All in all, Milone went five innings, allowing just those three runs while striking out three. The Nationals offense put enough runs on the board to allow Milone to leave as the pitcher of record as Boomer Whiting manufactured a run in the top of the fourth and scored on a Francisco Plasencia sacrifice fly.

Michael Burgess would add a two-out RBI triple in the top of the sixth to push the P-Nats lead to 7-3, and Dan Lyons hustle to score from second on an infield single from Whiting in the seventh made it an 8-4 P-Nats advantage that seemed comfortable enough for the Potomac bullpen.

But for the second consecutive night, the Red Sox would rally in the late innings to push the P-Nats to the brink of collapse. On Monday, Cole Kimball slammed the door, striking out two by using his mid-90s fastball to douse the Sox' comeback attempt. But on Tuesday, Atahualpa Severino left a hanging breaking ball to first baseman Mike Jones with the P-Nats clinging to a one-run lead in the bottom of the ninth and Jones blasted it over the right-field fence to tie the game at eight.

Two more innings of bonus baseball would go by with neither team putting any runners on base, but the P-Nats broke through in the 12th against Sox reliever Jose Alvarez (1-1). Lyons reached on an error by Jon Hee, stole second base, and moved to third on a sacrifice bunt by Whiting. Espinosa struck out trying to squeeze Lyons home, but Plasencia hit a hard ground ball through the right side that second baseman Luis Segovia corralled. Segovia slipped, however, and good hustle by Plasencia beat the throw to first, allowing Lyons to score the go-ahead run.

Chris Rivera, who joined the roster on Sunday, pitched a 1-2-3 11th and Jewett sent the young sidewinder back out for the 12th. Rivera (1-0) remained calm, working around a two-out walk for his first victory in the Carolina League.

Whiting recorded his second consecutive three-hit game, and Rooney also pounded out three hits as the P-Nats knocked 13 in all.

For the Nationals, it broke up a string of three consecutive series losses, and they can go for the sweep Wednesday with game three at 7:05 ET. You can catch all the action live on www.potomacnationals.com with Dan McGinn and Anthony Masterson starting with the pregame show at 6:45 ET.

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Carolina League Stories from June 2, 2009


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