Potomac drops third straight

The Potomac Nationals dropped their third consecutive game Thursday night, falling to the Wilmington Blue Rocks 3-2.
Despite the loss, the Nationals remain in second place in the Northern Division of the Carolina League behind Lynchburg.
Lynchburg won the first game of a doubleheader, 7-1, over Kinston Thursday night. Game Two of the DH was not complete at presstime.
As for the Nationals, they allowed three runs to the Blue Rocks in the bottom of the second inning, and failed to rally for the victory.
Potomac scored single runs in the third and fourth innings.
Brian Finegan was 0-for-3, with an RBI, while teammate Francisco Plasencia was 0-for-4, also with an RBI.
The lone extra-base hit for the Nationals came off the bat of Pat Nichols, who collected a double.
Jeff Mandel (3-2) took the loss for Potomac, working 5.1 innings, allowing three runs on six hits, with two walk s and five strikeouts.
Everett Teaford (5-2) was the winning pitcher, working six innings. He allowed two runs on three hits, with two walks and six strikeouts.
Tyler Chambliss recorded his 15th save of the year, going two-thirds of an inning, with one strikeout in the top of the ninth.
Tonight, the Nationals try to get back in the winning column against Wilmington at 7:05 p.m.
Luis Atilano (0-0) will take to the mound for the Nationals, while Wilmington will send Paul Mildren (0-1) to the hill.
Lowrance promoted
Marvin Lowrance went from being the hottest hitter in the Carolina League to the newest member of the Harrisburg Senators on Thursday.
The Potomac Nationals outfielder, the reigning Carolina League player of the week, was promoted to Class AA after batting .455 during the first week of July.
Lowrance sent parts of two seasons with the P-Nats, hitting 33 home runs — a record since the club became affiliated with Washington in 2005. In 74 games this season, he batted .268 with 12 homers and 39 RBI.
At the time of his promotion, the 23-year-old Lowrance was in the middle of a 9-for-19 streak that included five homers and 11 RBI.
The Washington Nationals promoted outfielder Brandon Whiting from low Class A Hagerstown to take Lowrance’s place on Potomac’s roster.
Whiting, who played in the 2007 College World Series and led the nation with 73 steals in his final season with Louisville, batted .261 with two homers and 27 RBI in 58 games for the Suns in the South Atlantic League.