CarL1 Potomac Nationals

Potomac Nationals Game Notes

Published on August 30, 2008 under Carolina League (CarL1)
Potomac Nationals News Release


TONIGHT: The Potomac Nationals and Wilmington Blue Rocks meet in game two of a four-game series...The P-Nats plated a pair of runs in the top of the sixth inning last night to edge the Rocks 3-1 in the opener of the series...Potomac enters today 4.0 games ahead of Wilmington atop the Carolina League Northern Division

TONIGHT'S STARTER: The Potomac Nationals send right-hander Hassan Pena to the mound trying to notch a win in his second straight start...In his last outing, he worked a career-long 7 2/3 innings and struck out a career-high nine batters and combined with Atahualpa Severino on his first career shutout in a 10-0 blanking of Salem on Monday night...Against Myrtle Beach on August 14, Pena walked a career-high six batters in four innings but ended up with a no decision after allowing just two runs on three hits...He earned his first Carolina League win on August 9 by tossing a career-high seven scoreless frames and limiting Winston-Salem to just two hits...In his home debut against Wilmington on July 30, the 23-year-old gave up four runs in 5 2/3 innings including a pair of two-run homers to Brad Correll and Kurt Mertins...In six starts with Low-A Hagerstown, the 2006 13th-round pick went 2-2 with a 2.08 ERA, striking out 24 in 26 innings...He spent two different stints on the Disabled List with a right shoulder injury.

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.

HISTORY IN THE MAKING: With last night's clinching win, the Potomac Nationals, became the first team in the 31-year history of the franchise to win both halves...The club is also the first full-season Washington Nationals affiliate ever to advance to the postseason.

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 before meeting the in the first round of the playoffs...The P-Nats are currently 12-5 against the Rocks this season, the only Northern Division opponent which they have a winning record against...Potomac has outscored Wilmington 104-53 in the series...The Nationals own a .297 batting average against Blue Rocks pitching while posting a 2.81 ERA and limiting the Rocks to a .238 batting average against...The P-Nats have also been able to slow down the Rocks running as Wilmington is 22-for-35 in stolen base tries against Potomac, the lowest success rate (62.9%) 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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