CarL1 Potomac Nationals

Potomac Nationals Game Notes

Published on July 21, 2009 under Carolina League (CarL1)
Potomac Nationals News Release


TODAY: The Potomac Nationals renew their rivalry with the First Half champion Lynchburg Hillcats in a three-game series from Calvin Falwell Field in Lynchburg, Va. with first pitch in game one scheduled for 7:05 p.m. Last week, the P-Nats won their first series against the Hillcats since July 17-18 of the 2008 season by taking three of four from the "Pfitz." Potomac hit .283 in the series and have now won five of their last eight against the Hillcats after going 1-5 in the first six meetings.

Lynchburg won the first half title in the Northern Division and already have a spot waiting for them in the Carolina League postseason. With that said, this team has experienced significant roster turnover and are playing without many of their key contributors from their playoff push. For the year, P.J. Forbes club has made 72 roster moves including the call-ups of Pedro Alvarez (.247-14-55), Miles Durham (.296-7-39), Michael Dubee (2-1, 1.45, 6SV) and Dustin Molleken (3-1, 3.48). They also have experienced some injury troubles and will be without the services of All-Star Kris Watts (.320-4-32) and Chase d'Arnaud (.279-2-15) for the start of this series.

TODAY'S OPPOSING STARTER: RHP Matt McSwain, 23, was signed as a non-drafted free agent by the Pittsburgh Pirates on July 26, 2006 after attending Elon University in North Carolina. He had his sophomore year interrupted by Tommy John Surgery but still went on to earn a look from the Pirates organization in the summer of 2006. After spending some time in the Gulf Coast League in ‘06 and ‘07, McSwain made the jump to Low-A ball in 2007 with Hickory and went 3-2 with a 5.59 ERA. The right-hander struck out 50 in 58 innings and won all his decisions as a starter. In 2008, he started out as a reliever but was quickly converted to a starter after his first promotion to Lynchburg in April. He combined to go 6-7 between Hickory and the Hillcats in 43 games (12 starts). His personal best might have come in his start against Charleston on July 28th when he threw 8.0 no-hit innings in the Crawdads' 6-0 victory.

This season, McSwain was the Hillcats Opening Day starter and surrendered three runs on six hits while fanning four P-Nats on April 9 from Lynchburg. He enters tonight's action with the Lynchburg staff lead with eight victories and has won two of his three decisions since the All-Star Break. Even though the wins are still there for the righty, it hasn't always been pretty as he's allowed seven or more hits in each of his last four starts and has an ERA of 6.19 (11ER/16.0 IP) in the month of July.

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Carolina League Stories from July 21, 2009


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