CarL1 Potomac Nationals

Potomac Nationals Game Notes

Published on April 19, 2008 under Carolina League (CarL1)
Potomac Nationals News Release


POTOMAC NATIONALS (11-3) VS. WILMINGTON BLUE ROCKS (6-9)

RHP ADRIAN ALANIZ (0-0, 6.75) VS. RHP BLAKE WOOD (0-0, 4.15)

April 19, 2008 -- 6:35 p.m.

G. Richard Pfitzner Stadium

Game #15/Home #9

Internet Webcast -- www.potomacnationals.com

TONIGHT: The Potomac Nationals and Wilmington Blue Rocks meet in game three of a four-game series...Last night, the P-Nats got back on track with five scoreless innings from starter Jordan Zimmermann and a five-run bottom of the first to knock off the Blue Rocks 6-1...The Frederick Keys fell 9-4 to the Winston-Salem Warthogs giving Potomac a two-game lead in the Carolina League Northern Division

TONIGHT'S STARTERS: Potomac Nationals right-hander Adrian Alaniz looks to get going after a pair of shaky starts to begin his Carolina League career...Last time out, the 24-year-old gave up four runs, three earned, on seven hits in four innings against Lynchburg...After issuing just eight walks in 60 1/3 innings with Short-Season Vermont, the former Texas Longhorn has already walked five in eight innings with the P-Nats...He came into this season rated as having the best command in the Nationals farm system according to Baseball America and was a preseason pick by milb.com to earn pitcher of the year honors in the organization...In spite of the struggles with command, Potomac is 2-0 in both of Alaniz's starts...Right-hander Blake Wood gets the start for the Blue Rocks...The former Georgia Tech star was solid in his first outing, tossing 5 1/3 shutout innings, allowing one hit while striking out nine and walking none...The 22-year-old has been touched up for six runs on eight hits over his last 7 2/3 innings, striking out nine and walking six...Wood walked five batters his last time out against Kinston...The fourth-rated prospect in the Royals organization according to Baseball America faced Potomac in the 2007 regular season finale giving up five runs on six hits in 3 2/3 innings suffering the loss...Devin Ivany was 2-for-2 against him with a double, RBI, and a pair of runs scored. Matt Rogelstad went 1-for-2 with a double and a strikeout and Chris Marrero homered off of Wood after striking out in his first at-bat against him.

HIT PARADE: The Potomac Nationals pounded out ten hits in the 6-1 win over the Wilmington Blue Rocks...It marked the seventh time in 14 games the P-Nats reached double-digits in hits...In contrast, the Blue Rocks have had only three 10+ hit games...It was the seventh time Wilmington has allowed 10 hits or more in a game...Potomac is third in the league with 124 hits trailing Frederick (131) and Salem (130).

ROCK SOLID 'PEN: The Wilmington Blue Rocks relievers have combined for 7 1/3 scoreless innings of work in the first two games of the series...Potomac has mustered just two hits against the Wilmington bullpen, striking out five times while walking just once...The P-Nats have scored 10 runs on 13 hits in 9 2/3 innings against the Rocks' starters.

YARD WORK: Dee Brown's home run in the bottom of the third inning off of right-hander Mario Santiago was just the second homer allowed by the Blue Rocks' pitching staff this season...Myrtle Beach's Brandon Hicks hit the other against righty Chris Nicoll...Wilmington still has allowed the fewest long balls in the league...Potomac has given up just three gopher balls through 14 games...The P-Nats are tied with Frederick for most homers in the league, going yard 11 times -- nine of which have been hit at the Pfitz...The Nationals crushed 21 homers against the Blue Rocks a season ago.

MARGIN OF VICTORY: While the Potomac Nationals have had nine games decided by three runs or less and seven decided by a lone run, the club has had no problem winning big...With last night's win, the P-Nats improved to 5-0 in games decided by more than three runs...Potomac has outscored its opponents 43-15 in those five contests, a 5.6 average margin of victory...The team is 6-3 in the other nine games with a 1.5 average margin of victory in the six wins...Potomac's three losses have come by a combined three runs.

BY-THE-NUM-BERS: Shortstop Seth Bynum has been Mr. Clutch for the Potomac Nationals...After Thursday night's RBI double in the bottom of the fifth, Bynum upped his batting average with runners in scoring position to .636 (7-for-11)...The 27-year-old ranks second in the Carolina League with 10 RBI and of his 13 hits, seven have come with runners in scoring position.

GOING STREAKING: Catcher Devin Ivany has a hit in all nine games he has played thus far...The 25-year-old is 10-for-34 (.294) with three doubles and a homer...Dating back to last season, Ivany has hit safely in ten straight.

GUESS WHO'S BACK: After last night's 6-1 win, infielder Ofilio Castro was promoted to Double-A Harrisburg... Infielder Leonard Davis was activated from the Disabled List, taking Castro's place on the roster...The 24-year-old hit .262 with four home runs and 10 RBI in 23 games with the P-Nats last season...The fifth-year pro had been sidelined with a wrist injury suffered during Spring Training.

Check out the Potomac Nationals Statistics

Share: Facebook | Twitter/X | LinkedIn | Reddit | Email



Carolina League Stories from April 19, 2008


The opinions expressed in this release are those of the organization issuing it, and do not necessarily reflect the thoughts or opinions of OurSports Central or its staff.

OurSports Central