Nationals Farm Authority

The Potomac Nationals added RHRP Clint Everts to their roster today, replacing RHRP Craig Stammen who was promoted to Columbus yesterday.

Everts returns to Potomac. He spent the 2006 and 2007 season as a starter in Potomac before being transitioned to the bullpen late in the season. Everts, a former first-round pick by the Montreal Expos in the 2002 First-Year Player Draft, was 0-2 with the Suns this season posting a 4.63 ERA in eight appearances, totaling 11 2/3 innings.

RHSP Hassan Pena was activated from the DL (tired arm) in Hagerstown, taking Everts’ spot on the roster.

It was a good night up and down the Nationals organization as five Nationals teams won six games on Tuesday evening (including one very unique win by Potomac).

After a 17-innings affair on Monday, Columbus got just what it needed from RHP Jason Bergmann who went eight strong innings, resting the Clippers bullpen in an 8-1 victory over Indianapolis (box).  Bergmann allowed only one unearned run on four hits and two walks with six strikeouts for his first Triple-A win of the season. CF Ryan Langerhans was 2/3 with a double, home run, three runs, and five RBI. RF Tommy Murphy (double, triple & two runs), 2B Pete Orr (triple, stolen base & three runs), and 3B Yurendell de Caster each had two hits for the Clippers. Langerhans two-run first inning double was all the offense Columbus would eventually need, but the Clippers scored again in the first, twice in third, and one each in innings four, six, and eight.

Today: RHP Dennis Tankersley (0-1, 4.00) wraps up the series in Indianapolis and RHP Ty Taubenheim (2-3, 6.75) at 11:00AM

RHP Marco Estrada went six strong innings, striking out three in the Senators 6-2 win (box/gamer). Estrada allowed only one run on four hits and three walks to even his record at 2-2. Harrisburg manufactured their runs on sacrifice flies, ground outs, and a bases loaded walk. LF Mike Daniel, 2B William Bergolla, and CF Roger Bernadina each had a pair of hits for the Senators. Bergolla had two RBI. Justin Maxwell was 1/4 (ignore the positions, they are incorrect). Luis Jimenez was 1/4 with a home run and three RBI. Notes: Hat top to Geoff Morrow of the Patriot News who pointed out the Altoona gamer which touches on the improvements in Harrisburg.

Today: RHP Tristan Crawford (0-0, 18.00) plays a morning game in Altoona against RHP Josh Hill (2-1, 2.91) at 10:35AM

A rainout on Monday meant the P-Nats were scheduled to play two seven-inning games on Tuesday night and both games were notable in their own right. In the first game, LHP Cory VanAllen and RHP Adam Carr held Winston-Salem to only two base runners in a 1-0 shutout (box). But the big story was game two where the P-Nats were held hitless yet still won the game 3-2 on a combinations of an error, passed ball, three walks, and hustle by LF Dee Brown (box/gamer).

VanAllen was dominant in his start holding the Warthogs to only a double in his seven innings of work, striking out four. The 23-year old lefty is now 3-0 with a 0.66 ERA and 0.91 WHIP over his first five starts with 19 strikeouts in 27 1/3 innings of work. Carr picked up his second win of the season with one inning of work with two strikeouts. Potomac could manage only six hits of their own but made the most of them in the bottom of the eighth and final inning. With two outs, RF Steve Doetsch walked and went to second on an infield single by SS Michael Martinez. Doetsch then scored the game-winning run on a walkoff single to center by a rehabbing Elijah Dukes. Dukes was 2/4, hitting leadoff and playing left field. CA Paul Lo Duca also made a rehab start, finishing 0/3.

As notable as the first game was, the second game stile the headlines. Warthogs starter Matt Zaleski held the P-Nats hitless through five innings before turning it over to his bullpen who pitched the final two innings without allowing a hit. The story would have been interesting enough with just a no-hitter, but the sixth inning made the game even moreso. The P-Nats entered the inning down 2-0, CA Brian Peacock reached on an error leading off the inning, followed by walks to both DH Elijah Dukes and 2B Jemel Spearman to load the bases. After a strikeout by 1B Chris Marrero, the P-Nats cut the lead in half on a passed ball. Winston-Salem intentionally walked 3B Leonard Davis to reload the bases and set up a double play. But a bases loaded walk to RF Edgardo baez tied the game at 2-2 setting the stage for Brown. Brown grounded the ball to third base in a potential double play ball, but Brown beat it out allowing Spearman to score the game winning run. LHP Ross Detwiler made the start and had a somewhat improved outing from his last start. He went five innings allowing two runs on six hits and four walks with three strikeouts. Detwiler was strong through his first three innings, allowing only one walk and two hits. The fourth inning saw both of his runs on four singles. He worked out of a self-created jam in the fifth, after walking the bases loaded, he got a double play ending the threat. LHP Yunior Novoa and RHP Zech Zinicola pitched the final two shutout innings allowing only one hit. Novoa picked up his first win of the season and Zinicola his second save.

Tonight: RHP Jordan Zimmermann (2-1, 2.21) looks for the series sweep against Winston-Salem and RHP John Ely (0-2, 2.88)at 7:05PM in Woodbridge

Strong defense, pitching and hitting led Hagerstown to a 7-1 win over West Virginia (box/gamer). RHP Colton Willems evened his record at 2-2 allowing only a solo home run among his three hits. Willems went six strong innings, striking out four without walking a batter. RHPs Kyle Gunderson and Edulin Abreu finished it off with three scoreless innings of relief, allowing only one base runner and striking out three. SS Dan Lyons was 2/5 with a triple and solo homer. 1B Bill Rhinehart (one run & one RBI), LF Aaron Seuss (two runs), and RF Michael Burgess (one run & one RBI) each had a pair of hits for the Suns. 3B Steve Souza went 1/4 with two RBI and 2B Jake Smolinski was 1/4 with a double and a run scored.

Today: RHP Brad Peacock (0-1, 6.87) takes the mound for Hagerstown this afternoon against West Virginia RHP Rob Bryson (0-1, 6.23) at 1:05PM

The Washington Post has an article on the decision one high school baseball player faces as the draft approaches, as well as a listing of some other local high schoolers who might be drafted in June.

Allan Simpson of PGCC has his first of what will be many takes on the 2008 draft. In it, he projects the Nationals will select HS 1B Eric Hosmer out of top ranked American Heritage High School. Other names available at #9 are HS CA Kyle Skipworth, HS RHPs Gerrit Cole & Tim Melville, and college 1B Yonder Alonso.

The Columbus Clippers today placed LHP Arnie Muñoz on the disabled list and received RHP Craig Stammen from Potomac. Muñoz was 0-0 in three appearances for the Clippers with a 16.62 ERA and 2.77 WHIP. Stammen was 0-0 with one save over six appearances for the P-Nats. Over 16 innings of work, he had a 2.25ERA and 0.88 WHIP with fourteen strikeouts. No word on Stammen’s replacement in Potomac. UPDATE: Stammen’s spot will not be immediately filled in Potomac. As of 2:00PM today, the P-Nats will play with 24/25 players plus the rehabbing Elijah Dukes and Paul LoDuca.

Additionally, here are health updates on other Clippers:

• RHP Chris Booker (groin) - no timetable for his return
• OF/3B Kory Casto (hamate) - was in Florida last weekend and will begin rehab soon. He is still several weeks from returning
• OF Alex Escobar (hamstring) - looked good in BP and has been running hard; Columbus manager Tim Foli says he could be activated as soon as this week

Injury news from Harrisburg:

• RHP Alex Morales (elbow) - no timetable for his return
• RHP Levale Speigner (right pectoral) - very close to returning

No players currently on the DL in Potomac.

RHP Hassan Pena remains on the DL in Hagerstown with a tired arm. IF Stephen King who was on the DL with a hamstring injury was re-assigned to extended spring training.

Today, the Nationals made several moves involving their catchers.

• CA Patrick Nichols was moved from Double-A Harrisburg to extended spring training
• CA Devin Ivany was promoted from High-A Potomac to Double-A Harrisburg
• CA Jhonathan Solano was promoted from Low-A Hagerstown to High-A Potomac
• CA Sean Rooney who was rehabbing from a concussion in extended spring training was re-added to the Low-A Hagerstown roster

Nichols has been all over the place thus far in 2008, playing four games in both Triple-A Columbus and Double-A Harrisburg. Between the two rosters, he got only 14AB with one hit. Ivany had been splitting time at catcher in Potomac with Brian Peacock. Ivany was hitting 250/318/400 in 11 games (40AB) with a home run and six RBI. Solano was the primary catcher for the Suns hitting 218/302/309 over 55AB with a home run and five RBI. Rooney ha dplayed only three games for the Suns (143/250/143) prior to his concussion from a collision at the plate.

Michael Burgess was named the South Atlantic League Hitter of the Week for the week of 21-27 April.

.310 (9-29), 8 R, 2 2B, 0 3B, 5 HR, 11 RBI, 2 BB, 7 SO, 0 SB, .897 SLG

In a sense, this Player of the Week award is probably more of a 10-game achievement award for Burgess, as the right fielder’s hot streak began with his first two-hit outing of the season on April 17. It must have felt comfortable, as Burgess has collected five more multi-hit games since then. On April 19, he hit his first home run in two weeks. That also must have been a good fit, as he would follow that up with another long ball April 21, then hammer four more during the week, including a two-homer effort in Saturday’s 8-6 victory against Greensboro. A first-round pick last June, Burgess has not been a gracious guest in the SAL, collecting seven of his eight home runs this year away from Municipal Stadium.

The Clippers were the only Nationals affiliate who played on Monday evening. The Clippers played almost enough innings themselves to account for a couple of them. PH/CA Javi Herrera delivered a two-run single in the top of the 17th and SS Rey Olmedo brought CA Jesus Flores home on a suicide squeeze as Columbus outlasted Louisville 5-2 (box/gamer). Columbus took advantage of the fact that Louisville had to call on 1B Kevin Barker to pick up their 11th win of the season. RHP Tyler Clippard made the start and allowed only one unearned run on two hits and four walks over six innings of work with four strikeouts. RHP Steve Shell struck out four over one hit shutout innings of relief. RHP Brian Sanches blew a save in his two innings of work, surrendering one run on five hits. LHPs Charlie Manning & Mike Bacsik and RHP Chris Schroder combined for seven innings of shutout relief, allowing five hits while striking out nine. Schroder was credited with the win and Bacsik the save. 2B/3B Pete Orr was 4/8 with a double and a run scored. LF Garrett Guzman was 1/5 with an RBI single. And, RF Jason Dubois was 0/6 with an RBI.

Tonight: RHP Jason Bergmann (0-2, 10.13) takes the mound as COlumbus opens a series in Indianapolis at 7:00PM

Harrisburg was off on Monday.

Tonight: RHP Marco Estrada (1-2, 4.05) kicks off a series in Altoona against RHP Yoslan Herrera (1-2, 3.86) at 6:35PM

Potomac was rained out on Monday.

Tonight: LHPs Cory VanAllen (3-0, 0.89) & Ross Detwiler (1-1, 5.14) start for Potomac in tonight’s doubleheader (two seven inning games) against Winston-Salem and RHPs Matt Zaleski (0-1, 7.71) & Michael Dubee (2-0, 3.91). The first game starts at 6:05PM

Hagerstown was off on Monday.

Tonight: RHP Colton Willems (1-2, 3.48) opens a homestand in Hagerstown against West Virginia at 6:35PM

Baseball America’s weekly transactions has a few names listed among the released for the Nationals.

Released: RHP Bradley Clark, RHP Jeff McCollum, LHP Jason Stanford, LHP Kai Tuomi

Clark and Stanford were already known. McCollum was a 2007 33rd round selection and Tuomi was a 2007 40th rounder. Both had spent time in 2008 in Hagerstown. There releases opened up spots for RHPs Jamie Lehman and Luis Atilano.

From the P-Nats …

The first game of the Potomac Nationals’ three-game set with the Winston-Salem Warthogs has been postponed due to persistent rain. The game will be rescheduled as part of a doubleheader tomorrow, Tuesday, beginning at 6:05 p.m.

A steady rain has blanketed much of the Washington, D.C. metro area since early Monday morning and is expected to continue through the evening hours as a line of storms stretching from New England all the way down as far south as Georgia continues to move east.

Tickets for Monday’s game can be exchanged at the Potomac Nationals Box Office for a future date excluding July 4th and the playoffs.

The Potomac Nationals series opener with the Winston-Salem Warthogs will start tomorrow at 6:05 p.m. as left-hander Cory VanAllen (3-0, 0.89) tries to continue is hot start to the season against right-hander Matt Zaleski (0-1, 7.71) in game one of the doubleheader. Game two will follow approximately 30 minutes after and will feature former first-round pick Ross Detwiler (1-1, 5.14) against righty Michael Dubee (2-0, 3.91). Both games will be seven innings.

Tuesday is also Kids Night at Pfitzner Stadium as two children 12 and under get in free with a paid adult admission. Everyone is invited out onto the field for Family Toss between the first and second game.

Below are the MiLB weekly notebook highlights for the Nationals affiliates

Columbus Clippers

THE WEEK IN REVIEW: The Clippers were 3-3 last week to move to 10-13 overall. They are fourth in the West Division, 4 1/2 games behind first-place Toledo.

WHO’S HOT AND WHO’S NOT: OF Tommy Murphy has hit .317 with nine runs scored in his last 10 games. … 1B Larry Broadway has batted .310 with eight RBIs and five runs scored in his last 10 contests. … OF Garrett Guzman has two hits in his last 22 at-bats (.091).

THE ARMS RACE: Columbus won seven of eight games from April 14-22 and the biggest reason for that run was solid pitching. The Clippers allowed 22 runs in those seven wins, yielding three runs or fewer five times. Columbus begins the week with a 10-13 record because the staff ranks 13th in the 14-team leaue with a 4.67 ERA.

QUOTE OF THE WEEK: “That’s probably the greatest catch I’ve ever made. I wish I had it on video. I didn’t see [the fence] coming, I thought I had plenty of room. I’ve never gone flying over a wall before.” –Clippers OF Jason Dubois to the Columbus Dispatch on April 20. Indianapolis’ Jason Bowers sent a shot toward the right-field bullpen before Dubois ran into, then flipped over, a chain-link fence that separated the bullpen from the field. Dubois landed on his back but held onto the ball.

Harrisburg Senators (still looking for link)

Potomac Nationals

WEEK IN REVIEW: The P-Nats went 2-3 on the week, dropping two of three at Winston-Salem before splitting two games at Frederick. At 14-6, Potomac still owns the league’s best record and remains atop the Northern Division.

WHO’S HOT: 3B Leonard Davis joined the P-Nats on April 19 and hit four home runs in his first six games. … 3B Matt Rogelstad ended the week with a five-game hitting streak, including three three-hit performances. … RHP Jhonny Nunez fanned 10 Warthogs batters in six innings and has struck out 15 in his last 11 innings. … RHP Adrian Alaniz has won two straight decisions by not allowing an earned run in his last 12 innings. He surrendered one unearned run over five innings to beat Frederick on April 26.

WHO’S NOT: After posting three hits against Wilmington on April 18, OF Dee Brown is hitless in his last 11 at-bats. … C Brian Peacock is 0-for-14 over his last four contests.

THROWING HEAT: LHP Cory VanAllen, the Nationals’ fifth-round pick in the 2006 Draft, improved his record to 3-0 by tossing five shutout innings against Winston-Salem on April 22. VanAllen allowed only one hit while issuing two walks and fanning four to lower his ERA to 0.89. The former Baylor University product showed an overpowering fastball and good command with the ability to paint the corners on both sides of the plate.

Hagerstown Suns

THE WEEK IN REVIEW: The Suns’ roller-coaster start continued. They rebounded to go 5-2 and, at 11-12, were in a tie for sixth in the SAL Northern, 4 1/2 games behind Lake County after Saturday.

WHO’S HOT: 1B Bill Rhinehart is the top hitter with a .306 (26-for-85) average and 16 RBIs. OF Michael Burgess had a monster week, including a two-homer, five-RBI effort Saturday night at Greensboro. Washington’s first-round sandwich pick in 2007 is hitting .258 (21-for-81) with an SAL-leading eight home runs, but is hitting .341 with 13 RBIs in his last 10 games. RHP Terrence Engles (3-0, 1.89) is finding success mixing starting and relieving.

WHO’S NOT: SS Jake Smolinski is struggling at .178 (16-for-90) after a 5-for-26 week. OF Stephen Englund is stuck at .171 (13-for-76). RHP Brad Peacock (0-1, 6.87) has allowed 14 earned runs in 18 1/3 innings.

NEWS & NOTES: Burgess, a native of Tampa who is playing in the SAL at age 19, has earned recognition since his days in high school, as he earned Aflac Player of the Year honors along with the 2006 Jackie Robinson Award as the top high-school player in America. He was also a two-time Louisville Slugger High School All-America selection. He dominated the Gulf Coast League in 2007, hitting .336 in 36 games before a .286 effort in a 19-game stint at Vermont. So far, his adjustment to full-season baseball has been easy.

DID YOU KNOW? Rhinehart’s strong start is not a surprise. The left-handed swinger led Vermont in average (.299), hits (64), RBIs (43) and doubles (18) and was named a New York-Penn League Mid-Season All-Star. The former University of Arizona star was an 11th-round selection by the Nats in 2007.