Atwood Shines in First Carolina League Victory

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Atwood Shines in First Carolina League Victory
05/30/2009 9:22 PM ET
By Anthony Masterson / Potomac Nationals

LYNCHBURG- Va- Though possibly too early to describe game two of the three game set against the Lynchburg Hillcats as a "must-win" for the P-Nats, the contest had all the makings of a make-or-break game for the Nationals. Having dropped game one to the Cats 1-0, the Nats found themselves five full games behind Lynchburg with three weeks left in the first half of the season. If the P-Nats were to defend their 2008 first-half title, they would have to dig deep and find a way to overcome their recent offensive woes and finally find a way to handle the Hillcats.
Luckily for the Nationals, lefty Will Atwood pitched phenomenally to earn his first win of the season, and Danny Espinosa cranked his ninth home run to lead the Nats past the Cats by the score of 4-2.
Atwood (1-4) struggled a bit in the first inning, allowing three hits and an RBI single to Pedro Alvarez before settling down and locking in to catcher Sean Rooney. The southpaw mixed his slow breaking ball with a changeup that fell off the table to complement a two-seam fastball that he consistently threw for first-pitch strikes. He struck out six in six innings to earn his first victory in the Carolina League.
The Nationals finally got on the board for the first time in the series in the fifth inning when Michael Burgess played wall-ball with a double off the centerfield fence to lead off the fifth inning. Rooney followed Burgess' two-bagger with a double of his own to bring home the first run of the game for the P-Nats.
In the sixth, Boomer Whiting led off with a single to right and came around to score when Espinosa crushed a pitch from Ronald Uviedo (2-3) over the right-field fence for his ninth dinger of the year which gave the Nats a 3-1 cushion.
The P-Nats loaded the bases with nobody out in the seventh looking for some insurance runs, but only one came across as Chris Marrero lofted a sacrifice fly to bring in Dan Nelson to put the P-Nats in front 4-2.
That is where the score would stay as Atahualpa Severino locked down his seventh save of the season by throwing two scoreless frames, including a 1-2-3 ninth inning to finish off game two of this three-game series.
The P-Nats are now four games behind the Hillcats and have a chance to put some pressure on Lynchburg with a victory in tomorrow afternoon's game. Jeff Mandel (6-1, 2.20) will look to earn his seventh consecutive victory as he takes the hill against Chi-Hung Cheng with first pitch slated for 2:05 ET.
You can hear all the action live on www.potomacnationals.com with Dan McGinn and Anthony Masterson starting with the pregame show at 1:45 ET.
For more information on tickets, daily promotions, and all things P-Nats, call (703) 590-2311 or log onto www.potomacnationals.com to join the party!
This story was not subject to the approval of the National Association of Professional Baseball Leagues or its clubs.