Potomac-Wilmington (8th Inning): Chris Chavez (2-0, 3.12 ERA), 23, comes into to pitch in his first game of the series for Wilmington. The first pitch to Burgess is crushed to the right field warning track, not enough to get out though, out #1. Jon Solano comes up swinging as well, pop up for out #2. Boomer Whiting continues to provide the P-Nats with a baserunner, as he walks on a wild ball four. He runs to first and thinks about second, but holds up. That is it for Chris Chavez.
The Blue Rocks bring on Ben Swaggerty, who pitched two innings against the P-Nats on Wednesday. He let up 2 hits, 0 zeros, and struck out one batter. Before Swaggerty even throws a pitch, Whiting is caught trying to steal second. Nats still up one going into the bottom of the 8th.
Ozzie Rodriguez, a recent call-up from Hagerstown, takes the mound for Potomac. Rodriguez was part of this season DSL champions, the DSL Nats1, where he was 12-0. Rodriguez issues the 8th Potomac walk of the game to the first batter, Kurt Mertins. Josh Johnson hits a routine groundball to first base, but the throw forces Osvaldo Rodriguez to come off the bag. The tag on the runner is too late, but Randy Knorr is pissed as he argues that the runner had to leave the basepath to allude the tag. Appeal denied, runners on 1st and 2nd, Josh Wilkie warming up. With a 2-2 count, Jeff Howell fouls a pitch that Solano fails to reach for the out. Howell then grounds to Stephen King who snags the ball for a 5-4-3 double play. Randy Knorr isn't going to play around, he brings in Josh Wilkie, here is the Potomac blurb on Wilkie:
Wilkie, a Carolina League Mid-Season All-Star, has been the most consistent of the Potomac relievers all season and the only one that has been with the club from start to finish. Even though he lacks velocity, Wilkie goes right after hitters and has a "killer instinct" on the mound. The former George Washington Colonial wants the ball in his hand at the end of the game.
Wilkie, a local product (George Washington), is brought on to go for the 4-save, the series sweep, and a ticket to the Carolina League Championship series. Wilkie pitched two perfect innings on Wednesday. Wilkie comes on and gets the last out in the form of a fly ball to Dee Brown.
P-Nats 1, Wilmington 0
Due Up: Martinez (0-2, SO, S)-Lyons (0-3, SO)-Lefave (0-3, SO)
