In the bright light of day, the Salem Avalanche wilted.

A rare noon start at Salem Memorial Baseball Stadium on Monday yielded no highlights for the home team and left the Avalanche with its second loss to the Potomac Nationals in three days.

The Avalanche had won five straight road games before Potomac came to town. The Nationals snapped that win streak with an 5-1 win Saturday, then after a 7-5 win Sunday, Salem suffered through an 8-1 loss Monday.

"This was a very, very disappointing game," Avalanche manager Jim Pankovits said. "We didn't hit -- there were no hits after the third inning -- every pitcher struggled, the defense was here and there.

"It was just a very disappointing day."

The Avalanche went with an all-bullpen pitching corps Monday, starting with Rory Shortell (3-4) and running through Enyelbert Soto, Evan Englebrook, Jeff Wigdahl and Rodrigo Escobar.

The move came in part because a rainout last week pushed Salem's starting rotation out of whack and in part because several relievers needed some work and the league is taking today off for the Major League All-Star Game.

The Nationals, especially the bottom three in the order, apparently liked what they saw from Salem's bullpen. Potomac (7-10) outhit the Avalanche 15-5. Ian Desmond and Steve Mortimer, the eighth- and ninth-place hitters, each went 3-for-4. Desmond doubled, homered and scored three runs. Mortimer doubled and scored twice.

Marvin Lowrance, the seventh-place hitter, went 2-for-5 with a double.

Shortell was the hardest hit, giving up four runs on five hits and a walk in the third inning. Escobar, the Carolina League's saves leader with 17, meandered through two innings, allowing two runs on four hits and three walks.

Salem's offense, whose emergence was responsible for the winning streak, disappeared. The Avalanche (9-8) scored 5.22 runs a game in its nine wins in the second half, and just 2.35 runs per game in its eight losses. Monday's offense was even less.

Though the leadoff batters reached in the first and second innings, both were erased on double plays. Salem put runners at first and second with one out in the third, and got nothing for it. Drew Sutton flied out and Ervin Alcantara grounded out.

The lone Avalanche run came in the fifth when Francisco Caraballo walked and Mario Garza was hit by a pitch from Potomac starter Mike Hinckley. The runners moved up on a groundout, and Caraballo scored on a grounder by Wade Robinson. Robinson was safe on the play and Garza went to third because of an error by shortstop Desmond, but Sutton struck out and Alcantara grounded out.

Salem loaded the bases on three walks from Chris Thompson in the sixth inning, but each walk was followed by a fly-ball out. Four pitchers combined to set the Avalanche down in order for the last three innings.

POTOMAC SALEM

ab r h bi ab r h bi

Chavez rf 4 1 1 1 Sutton 2b 4 0 1 0

Webb 2b 3 0 1 0 Alcantara cf 4 0 1 0

Yepez 2b 2 0 1 2 Torbert lf 3 0 0 0

Bernadina cf 4 2 1 0 Sellers 1b 4 0 1 0

Powell 3b 5 0 1 2 Santangelo c 3 0 0 0

Ivany c 5 0 2 2 Caraballo rf 3 1 0 0

Montz dh 4 0 0 0 Garza dh 2 0 0 0

Lowrance lf 5 0 2 0 Thompson 3b 4 0 1 0

Desmond ss 4 3 3 1 WRobinson ss 3 0 1 1

Mortimer 1b 4 2 3 0

Totals 40 8 15 8 Totals 30 1 5 1

Potomac 004 001 120 -- 8

Salem 000 010 000 -- 1

E--Desmond (8), Sellers (5), Wigdahl (2). DP--Potomac 2, Salem 2. LOB--Potomac 11, Salem 7. 2B--Lowrance (14), Mortimer (4), Yepez (10), Desmond (11), Thompson (2). HR--Desmond (3). CS--Chavez (6), Sutton (8). PO--Sutton.

IP H R ER BB SO

Potomac

Hinckley W, 5-5 5 5 1 1 1 2

Thompson 1 0 0 0 3 0

Wilson 1 0 0 0 0 0

Morales 1 0 0 0 0 1

Nyquist 2-3 0 0 0 0 0

Ovalles 1-3 0 0 0 0 1

Salem

Shortell L, 3-4 3 5 4 4 2 3

Soto 1 2-3 2 0 0 0 1

Englebrook 1 2 1 1 0 0

Wigdahl 1 1-3 2 1 0 1 3

Escobar 2 4 2 2 3 1

HBP--by Hinckley (Garza).

Umpires--Buchanan, home; Warren, bases.

T--2:44. A--3,055.

HOW THEY SCORED

Potomac third: One out. Desmond singled. Mortimer singled; Desmond to third. Chavez singled; Desmond scored; Mortimer to second. Webb flied out. Bernadina walked to load the bases. Powell singled; Mortimer scored; Chavez scored; Bernadina to second. Ivany singled; Bernadina scored. Nationals 4, Avalanche 0.

Salem fifth: Caraballo walked. Garza hit by a pitch; Caraballo to second. Thompson grounded out; Caraballo to third; Garza to second. Robinson reached on an error by Desmond; Caraballo scored. Nationals 4, Avalanche 1.

Potomac sixth: Two outs. Desmond homered. Nationals 5, Avalanche 1.

Potomac seventh: One out. Bernadina reached on a bunt single and went to third on an throwing error by Wigdahl. Powell flied out. Ivany singled; Bernadina scored. Nationals 6, Avalanche 1.

Potomac eighth: Desmond walked. Mortimer doubled; Desmond to third. Chavez walked to load the bases. Yepez doubled; Desmond scored; Mortimer scored. Nationals 8, Avalanche 1.