CarL1 Potomac Nationals

Potomac Nationals Game Notes

Published on August 29, 2008 under Carolina League (CarL1)
Potomac Nationals News Release


TONIGHT: The Potomac Nationals and Wilmington Blue Rocks meet in game one of a four-game series...The P-Nats earned a split in the four-game set with Salem by knocking off the Avs 8-4 in last night's regular season home finale...Potomac enters today 3.0 games ahead of Wilmington atop the Carolina League Northern Division

TONIGHT'S STARTER: The Potomac Nationals send left-hander Ross Detwiler to the mound trying to clinch the second half Northern Division title in the opener of the four-game set with the Blue Rocks...The 22-year-old earned his first win since helping the P-Nats clinch the first-half Northern Division title on June 9 tossing five innings and allowing three runs on four hits in a victory over the Winston-Salem Warthogs ...Following that outing, Detwiler went 0-4 with three no-decisions over his next seven starts, allowing 24 runs, 20 earned, on 42 hits while striking out 26 and walking 14 in 36 innings (5.00 ERA)...The former first-round pick snapped his winless streak on July 29 against Wilmington by firing six innings and giving up just one run on six hits while striking out six and walking only one...This season against the Blue Rocks, the St. Louis-native is 1-0 with a 1.35 ERA in four starts...He has allowed just three runs on 14 hits in 20 innings of work while striking out 24 and walking 11...Detwiler has faired better on the road than at home, going 3-3 with a 3.77 ERA in ten starts on the road as opposed to a 4-5 mark with a 5.82 ERA in 15 outings at home.

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 two...A win in this series 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.

HELLISH HOMESTAND: The Potomac Nationals finished up the 2008 regualr season home slate by going just 2-5 on the final seven-game homestand...The offense especially struggled during the five losses to Lynchburg and Salem, combining to hit just .199 (32-for-161)...The club was outscored 30-15 in the defeats and averaged only three runs per contest...The P-Nats struck out 33 times and walked just eight in those contests...Meanwhile, in the two wins against the Avalanche, the Nationals outscored their in-state rivals 18-4 and hit .328 (22-for-67) in the victories, striking out just nine times and walking ten.

PLAYOFF PREVIEW?: The Potomac Nationals and Wilmington Blue Rocks meet in the final series of the 2008 regular season for both clubs...While Potomac has already clinched a playoff berth, Wilmington has a magic number of one to advance to the postseason for the third straight year...The P-Nats are currently 11-5 against the Rocks this season, the only Northern Division opponent which they have a winning record against...Potomac has outscored Wilmington 101-52 in the series...The Nationals own a .304 batting average against Blue Rocks pitching while posting a 2.98 ERA and limiting the Rocks to a .240 batting average against...The P-Nats have also been able to slow down the Rocks running as Wilmington is 20-for-32 in stolen base tries against Potomac, the lowest success rate (62.5%) against any team in the league.

THE FEW AND THE PROUD: Only 13 active members remain on the P-Nats roster for the club that clinched the first half title on June 9 agianst Winston-Salem...Just six players for Opening Day remain on the active roster and four of those (Detwiler, Wilkie, Martinez, and Brown) have been on the roster the entire season...Potomac has had a record 64 different players, counting eight rehabs, in uniform this season...The club has used 16 different starting pitchers not counting rehabs.

EYE ON 80: With Monday night's win, the Potomac Nationals passed 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 29, 2008


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