Potomac takes 2-0 lead in yet another extra-inning game

It was another pitcher’s duel. Not all that surprising given what transpired the night before.
And, for the second straight evening, the Carolina League Northern Division Championship Series at Pfitzner Stadium went into extra innings on Thursday.
Only this time, it didn’t take 15 innings for Boomer Whiting and the Potomac Nationals to take a two-games-to-none lead in the best-of-five series.
Whiting, who scored the winning run in game one on a wild pitch, sprinted home from second base on a one-out single by Dan Lyons as the Nationals defeated the Wilmington Blue Rocks, 3-2.
“He’s a dangerous guy to have on the bases. We’re fortunate to have a guy with his speed who can steal whenever he wants,” Lyons said of Whiting, who entered the game as a pinch runner. “When he’s on second base all you have to do is get a hit and he’s going to score.”
And that is exactly what Lyons did.
The P-Nats shortstop hit a 3-2 pitch from reliever Tyler Chambliss into center field and Whiting beat the throw home with a head first dive.
“I was looking for something over the plate and didn’t get it until late,” Lyons said. “He sort of left a slider up. I saw it right out of his hands and got a pretty good swing on it.”
After winning 79 regular season games — the second most in the franchise’s 31-year history — and sweeping the first and second half pennants for the first time, Potomac will head to Delaware tonight with an opportunity to sweep the series with Ross Detwiler on the mound.
In the playoffs for just the sixth time since the franchise began play in the 1970s, the P-Nats are attempting to join the 1982 Alexandria Dukes and 1989 Prince William Yankees as Mills Cup Champions.
They certainly have the pitching to accomplish that feat. Potomac received another terrific outing from starter Erik Arnesen and the bullpen. What the Nationals have needed is a clutch hit.
Last night, they stranded runners on either second or third in six innings before Lyons, who batted .400 with runners in scoring position during the regular season, came through in the 10th.
“It’s good for us to get used to playing these high energy games,” Lyons said. “We have a lot of hits, but we haven’t scored a lot of runs. That’s something we can improve on.”
Arnesen did his part to keep the game close. He made his Carolina League debut against the Blue Rocks on July 28, allowing three runs in 6 2/3 innings and the 24-year-old right-hander was even better last night in an 81-pitch performance.
He left after 5 2/3 innings with the game tied at 2 – his best outing in three weeks – and was backed by some terrific relief from Jack Spradlin, who threw 2 ½ perfect innings, as well as winning pitcher Clint Everts, who tossed two shutout innings.
The game wound up surpassing three hours only because Wilmington starter Mario Santiago held the P-Nats to just a pair of runs during his five innings of work.
Jeff Bianchi gave Wilmington a 1-0 lead with a second-inning solo homer over the wall in center field. The P-Nats quickly tied it in the bottom of the inning when Francisco Plasencia singled and eventually scored on a bases-loaded sacrifice fly by catcher Jhonatan Solano.
Dee Brown’s third-inning RBI single gave Potomac a 2-1 lead but Wilmington answered in familiar fashion.
The Blue Rocks are at their best when they are able to run the bases. Speed is their greatest asset and that’s how they tied the game in the fourth. Paulo Orlando reached on an infield single, stole second and came around on a base hit by Bianchi.
In the end, speed proved to be Potomac’s secret weapon, too.