CarL1 Potomac Nationals

Potomac Nationals Game Notes

Published on August 22, 2008 under Carolina League (CarL1)
Potomac Nationals News Release


TONIGHT: The Potomac Nationals and Lynchburg Hillcats meet in game one of a three-game series...The P-Nats completed a sweep of the Kinston Indians with a 6-0 shutout on Wednesday night...It was the first series victory and sweep since the club swept Wilmington July 28-30...Potomac enters today 4.5 games ahead of Wilmington atop the Carolina League Northern Division.

TONIGHT'S STARTER: The Potomac Nationals send right-hander Luis Atilano to the mound to trying to extend the P-Nats' winning streak to five...It will be his first start since being placed on the DL on August 14 with tightness in his right shoulder...The last time he took the hill on August 11 against Frederick, Atilano tossed five innings and held the Keys to just one run on five hits and earned his fifth win...In his last outing against Lynchburg, Atilano pitched well enough for the victory, allowing only one run on four hits in five innings; however, he received a no decision in a 10-4 loss to the Hillcats...The 23-year-old had a personal four-game winning streak snapped with a 5-1 loss to Winston-Salem on August 1...He allowed four runs in the contest, all unearned, in a disastrous fifth inning...Prior to his last outing, the Puerto Rican gave up just four runs in 20 innings over his four-game winning streak (1.80ERA) allowing just 11 hits while striking out 13 and walking only three...He earned Carolina League Pitcher of the Week honors after tossing five scoreless innings against both Kinston (7/22) and Frederick (7/27) allowing just one hit in each of those outings...The former supplemental first-round pick of the Atlanta Braves in 2003 (Tom Glavine) was traded to the Washington Nationals in exchange for Daryle Ward on August 31, 2006, 21 days after he underwent "Tommy John" surgery...Atilano is limited to five innings or 70-75 pitches and will not throw more than 100 innings for the season.

STILL STANDING TALL: The Potomac Nationals have only spent two days were they were not in or had a share of the division lead since moving to the top spot on April 10...Potomac had a string of 91 straight days in first place snapped with a 4-1 loss to Wilmington on July 9...Last season the Nationals spent 31 consecutive days in first from April 5 through May 5...The P-Nats ended the first half in last place, 10 games under .500 and only saw first place for one day, June 21, after May 5.

DO YOU BELIEVE IN MAGIC?: The Potomac Nationals magic number to clinch the second half Northern Division title is at seven...Any combination of Potomac wins and Wilmington losses would net the P-Nats the half title...The Nationals are trying to become the first team in the 31-year history of the franchise to win both halves.

BOOMER SINGLES STREAK TO NINE: Boomer Whiting extended a career-long nine-game hitting streak by driving a RBI single to left field in his final at-bat on Wednesday night...Over the course of his streak, he is batting .484 (15-for-31) with a double, a homer and five RBI...He has walked five times and struck out five times and also has netted a pair of steals...19 of his 38 hits with Potomac have not left the infield....The 24-year-old has a combined 46 steals on the season including 33 swipes of the bag with Low-A Hagerstown...The University of Louisville product has the most stolen bases for a Expos/Nationals farmhand since Henry Mateo stole 47 bases for the Triple-A Ottawa Lynx in 2001.

BIG DAY FOR DEE BROWN: The Potomac DH went 2-for-4 with a pair of home runs, 3RBI and two runs scored in the finale of the Kinston series on Wednesday...It was the third multi-homer game of the 25-year-old's career and first since August 14, 2006, when he homered twice against the Winston-Salem Warthogs at Ernie Shore Field...It was the second time in as many night's that a P-Nat went deep twice in the same game as Michael Burgess went yard twice the day before...Prior to that, Potomac had just one batter homer twice in the same game as Marvin Lowrance did it against Kinston on June 30.

HOME RUN HAPPY: The Potomac Nationals hit eight home runs, including six in Kinston, on the week-long road trip...With the power surge, the P-Nats moved ahead of Winston-Salem for the fewest home runs hit in the month of August with 12...Burgess has accounted for half of the long balls on the trip and has hit five of the club's ten home runs since his promotion from Low-A Hagerstown on August 11.

EYE ON 80: With Wednesday night's win, the Potomac Nationals matched the 1984 Prince William Pirates for second-most wins in a single season...On August 12 the P-Nats became just the eighth team in the 31-year history of the Alexandria/Prince William/Potomac franchise to win at least 70 games...The last time the franchise netted at least 70 wins was 1998 when it was still known as the Prince William Cannons...The win marked the first time the franchise won 70 games in a season since changing its name to Potomac in 1999...The most wins in a season came in 1982 when the Alexandria Dukes won 80 games.

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Carolina League Stories from August 22, 2008


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