Potomac blows another good outing by bullpen

A slight smile came across Clint Everts’ face. Even he was stuck trying to explain striking out seven straight batters and eight total in three and a third innings on Thursday.
“I don’t know,” Everts said.
Everts’ fastball, changeup and curveball were working well. He stood confidently on the mound, doing all he could to keep the Potomac Nationals from falling further behind the Kinston Indians.
“They weren’t hitting the curveball,” Everts said. “I had guys swinging at the fastball. That was good. Kinston’s a real aggressive team. They’ll swing at anything close.”
Someone who watched Everts give him high marks.
“It was awesome,” Potomac manager Randy Knorr said. “It was like watching someone bowl a 300.”
It was unquestionably Everts’ best pitching performance in a long time. He showed why the then-Montreal Expos made him the fifth overall pick in the 2002 draft.
If only Potomac’s offense had scored in the seventh, eighth and ninth, the Nationals may not have settled for a split of their series with the Indians.
Instead, Potomac must do so after falling 7-5.
Everts’ outing comes against a team having fanned a Carolina League-low 629 times.
“It’s just a matter of trusting your stuff,” Everts said. “My changeup was huge.”
Potomac’s bullpen is not to blame for its team’s two straight losses. Jack Spradlin and Josh Wilkie combined to toss five scoreless innings on Wednesday.
Wilkie followed Everts’ performance on Thursday with another scoreless inning as Potomac’s relievers have gone the past 20 and a third innings without allowing a run.
“Considering the guys we’ve (had promoted to Double-A), they’ve taken it upon themselves to do (a good job),” Knorr said.
Meanwhile, Nationals starting pitcher Ross Detwiler’s struggles continue.
The Washington Nationals’ number one pick of the 2007 draft shows flashes of brilliance. He retired seven of eight batters in the second, third and fourth.
But Detwiler labored through the first and second innings, throwing 50 pitches. He hit two batters and allowed a two-run home run to Brian Juhl.
He took the loss, dropping to 5-7 after giving up seven runs, four earned on seven hits in four and two-thirds innings.
He must put another shaky outing in his rearview mirror and get ready for his next. Detwiler receives daily pep talks from Knorr and pitching coach Randy Tomlin reminding him to maintain his focus and not get down when things go bad.
“Every day between starts,” Knorr said. “It’s just something he’s going to have to learn to do.”
Potomac’s three errors in the fifth did not help. He appeared to have escaped a bases loaded, two-out jam when he forced Cirilo Cumberbatch to ground to third.
But Nationals third baseman Trevor Lawhorn’s errant throw to first base attempting to record the putout on the play allowed two runs to score.
Another run scored when Potomac first baseman Andrew Lefave failed to secure a ground ball hit by John Drennen.