The Columbus Clippers (AAA) squeeked away a 2-1 win over Louisville last night on a 8th inning single by Yurendell de Caster that drove in Alex Escobar. In a pitchers duel, the Nats gave up 7 hits while collecting only 6. Mike O’Connor pitched 7 string innings of 1 run ball, striking out 5. Although he did not earn a decision, O’Connor dropped his ERA below 2.00 to 1.93. Chris Schroeder (4-2) pitched scoreless 8th and 9th innings to pick up the win our of the bullpen. Escobar continues to hit well as he tries to climb back to the major leagues after several years of injuries. He was 2 for 3, scored the winning run and lifted his average to .308.
Transactions: Peter Orr activated from DL, Jorge Padilla goes on the DL.
Record: 29-24, 4GB
Harrisburg Senators (AA): Marco Estrada is literally the hottest pitcher in the system right now. Estrada pitched a complete, 7 inning shutout to improve to 6-2 and lower his ERA to 2.14. Estrada scattered 6 hits on 7 strike outs to earn his first complete game shutout of the year. Over his last 6 starts, Estrada is 5-0 with a 1.08 ERA, 4 earned runs in 33.2 innings with 33 strikeouts. Estrada was a 6th round draft pick in the 2005 draft. Offensively, Ofilio Castro was 2 for 2 and hit his first homer of the year. Castro is hitting .308. Michael Daniel was 1 for 3, doubled, and scored a run. Marco Yepez nailed 2 triples and knocked in 2 runs to lead the Senators offense.
Transactions: Prospect Justin Maxwell was placed on the DL and will likely miss 7 days. Maxwell is suffering from a minor wrist injury. Maxwell leads the Eastern league with 35 runs scored.
Record: 30-20, 1GB
Potomac Nationals (A) crushed Lynchburg for a second straight night, 13-2. In the last two games, the Nats offense has pounded Lynchburg pitching for 25 runs. As for pitching, more good news for the Washington Nationals. 2007 6th rounder Adrian Alaniz picked up the win and improved to 7-0. Alaniz pitched 5.2 innings giving up 1 earned run and striking out 3. Mike Martinez continued swinging a hot bat going 3 for 5. Martinez is now 7 for 10 against Lynchburg the past two games. Chris Marrero is awaking from his slump, going 3 for 6, hitting his 8th homer, and driving in 2 runs. Marrero is now hitting .351 over the past 10 games with 11 runs scored and 3 homers. Marvin Lowrance (6) and Leonard Davis (8) also homered. Lowrance was 3 for 3. The Nationals have now won 3 in a row and 4 out of their last 5.
Transactions: Received RP Atahualpa Severino from Low A Hagerstown to replace Yunior Novoa, who was promoted to Harrisburg.
Record: 32-18, FIRST place
Hagerstown (Low A) fell to Kannapolis in a high scoring 10-9 loss. Luis Atilano gave up 3 runs in 3.2 innings and the steady, young and impressive Kyle Gunderson got rocked a bit for 3 runs in 1 inning and took the loss. Severino pitched 2 scoreless innings before being promoted to Potomac. Offensively, the Suns racked up 9 hits and 9 runs in the losing effort. Brandon Whiting was 2 for 7 and drove in 2 runs. he is hitting .321. Bill Rhinehart scored twice and went 2 for 5. He is hitting .337 and looks to awaiting a promotion. Not sure what else he need to prove in Hagerstown. Aaron Suess swung the big bat, driving in 2 runs and going 4 for 6. He raised his average to .301. Stephen King also remains hot going 3 for 5 and raising his bloated average to .356. Michael Burgess was also 2 for 5, drove in 2 runs, doubled and scored twice. After a slow start, Burgess is now hitting .261. It is nice from season to season to watch these guys develop. Check these stats out from the Suns offense …
Last ten games:
Aaron Suess is hitting .426 with 3 homers and 13 RBIs. Suess has a 7 game hit streak and a 6 game streak of multiple hit games.
Bill Rhinehart is hitting .386 over his last 10 games, scoring 11 runs. He has hit safely in 9 of his last 10 games, 7 of which were multiple hit efforts.
Stephan King has hit .442 over the last 10 games, including 4 doubles and 2 homers. King has hit safely in 9 of the last 10 games and has 6 multiple hit games during that stretch. In his last 6 games, King is 13 for 21 at the plate.
Michael Burgess has hit .371 over the last 10 games. He has hit safely in 9 of his last 10 games, including 6 multiple hit efforts. During that stretch, Burgess has driven in 11 runs and scored 10.
Burgess, Rhinehart, and Suess are all 2007 draft picks while King was a 2006 draft pick.
Transactions: None
Record: 27-24, 5.5GB
HOTTEST PITCHER of the Week: Marco Estrada
5-0 with an ERA of 1.08 in last 5 starts
HEATING UP ON THE MOUND: Ross Detwiler
HOTTEST BAT of the Week: Stephen King
King has 13 hits in his last 21 at bats and has hit .442 over the last 10 games to lift his overall average to an impressive .356.
HEATING UP AT THE PLATE: Michael Burgess
After a slow start, despite 11 homers, Burgess has lifted his average to .261 thanks to hitting .370 over the past 10 games.
RIGHT NOW — OUR TOP PLAYER THUS FAR: 1B Bill Rhinehart
Rhinehart is hitting .337, 5th overall in the South Atlantic League. Rhinehart is tied for 6th in the league in runs scored, is second in the league in doubles, leads the South Atlantic in RBIs, is fourth in slugging, and fifth in OBP. It just doesn’t get any better in the Nats system right now.
For the overall Leaders in the Nationals Minor League System, link to our Nationals Page.
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