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EL1 Chesapeake Baysox

\'Sox Fall Short In Finale

July 24, 2008 - Eastern League (EL1)
Chesapeake Baysox News Release


(Bowie, MD) - The Baysox mounted a late rally but came up just shy of sweeping the Harrisburg Senators Thursday afternoon. David Hernandez had another good outing, but had to throw a lot of pitches and lasted just four innings. Alex Cintron got the start in his first game with Bowie on a rehab assignment and picked up a base hit before leaving the game. Pitcher Jamie Walker is also in Bowie for a rehab assignment, he worked one inning. Matt Wieters spent most of the day on the bench before getting the call to pinch-hit with the bases loaded and two outs in the bottom of the ninth. Wieters crushed the first pitch he saw high over the wall in right field for his first grand slam as a member of the Baysox.

Harrisburg took an early 1-0 lead in their first turn at bat. Marvin Lowrance picked up an RBI single with men on first and second, plating Ian Desmond to open the scoring.

The Senators put up three runs in the top of the third, all of which would be unearned. Ian Desmond led off with a single up the middle. With Bill Rhinehart at the plate, Desmond took off for second. Rhinehart hit a chopper right back to Hernandez, who turned and threw the ball wide of second base and into the outfield. Both runners advanced on the error and Harrisburg had runners on second and third with no outs. Ofilio Castro hit a line drive right back at Hernandez for the first out and Marvin Lowrance hit a slow ground ball to first base that scored Desmond and advanced Rhinehart to third. Devin Ivany hit a single to left field to score Rhinehart and then stole second base. Matt Rogelstad drove a base hit into center field to score Ivany and give the Senators a 4-0 lead.

Hernandez lasted four innings, giving up four runs on five hits and three walks. Only one of the runs was earned, and he also racked up nine strikeouts in the twelve outs he recorded. Hernandez has been unlucky lately, pitching excellent baseball but coming up just short. He got charged with the loss in his last start also, in which he went 6.0 innings and gave up two runs while striking out eight. Despite the mediocre record, Hernandez is keeping his head up, "My fastball was good tonight, my slider was good. My changeup wasn't there. If I field my position they probably wouldn't have scored three runs in the third inning. My walks have been my downfall all year, I've walked guys and thrown a lot of pitches. It's getting better, my pitches feel a lot better, it's just a question of being consistent."

The Baysox got one back in the bottom of the fourth. Alex Cintron hit a one-out single to left field and was replaced by Carlos Rojas. With two outs, Nolan Reimold pulled a base hit through the hole between third and short that moved Rojas to second. Jeff Nettles stepped in and drove a double into the gap in right-center field. Rojas scored easily to make the score 4-1 and Reimold tried to come home all the way from first, but Mike Daniel relayed to Ian Desmond who nailed Reimold at the plate to end the inning. Bowie got within one run in the bottom of the sixth on a two-run bomb by Nolan Reimold that cleared the wall in dead center field.

Gerardo Casadiego came on in the fifth inning and worked two shutout frames. Jamie Walker came on to pitch the top of the seventh inning and got into some trouble. Marvin Lowrance led off with a base hit and Devin Ivany sacrificed him to second base with a bunt. Matt Rogelstad hit a single to right field and Lowrance moved to third. Seth Bynum delivered with a three-run homerun over the wall in left field to make the score 7-3 Harrisburg. Walker gave up two more hits in the inning, but got a double play to end the threat.

The Senators added another run in the top of the eighth. Chad Thall came on for the Baysox and retired the first two batters he faced. Edgardo Baez hit a pinch-hit single to left field and Thall walked Ivany behind him. Matt Rogelstad singled Baez home to make the score 8-3 Senators before Thall could get out of the jam.

The Baysox mounted a comeback in the bottom of the ninth inning. Adam Carr came on to pitch for the Senators and retired the first two batters in order. Ryan Finan drew a walk to keep the game alive. Jonathan Tucker hit a screamer down the right field line that fell in for a double to put runners on second and third. Sebastien Boucher worked a walk to load the bases with two away when manager Brad Komminsk called Wieters out of the dugout. Wieters wasted little time, sending a no-doubter over the right-field wall on the first pitch he saw. The pinch-hit grand slam cut the lead to 8-7 before Lou Montanez grounded out to Carr to end the game.

This wasn't Wieters' first pinch-hit appearance, but he hasn't done it often, "Not too many times, I've had a few this year. Normally when I get a day off it's a complete day off but today I hit. I went out there and got a pitch to hit, put a good swing on it, wish we could have been a little bit closer but it felt pretty good. Pinch-hitting is tough, you have to watch the game and stay in the game. I enjoyed watching the game today and Brad told me to get out there. He told me if I got a good pitch to swing at first pitch, swing at it."

With the loss, the Baysox move to 60-46 on the year, but keep pace at three and a half games back of first-place Akron, who lost Thursday. The Baysox will head to Erie for a three-game set with the SeaWolves. RHP Chris Tillman (7-3, 3.11 ERA) will start Friday's game for the Baysox against Erie RHP Anthony Swarzack (3-7, 5.74 ERA). Following the series in Erie, the Baysox will return to Bowie for a four-game series with the New Britain Rock Cats beginning Monday, July 28.

The Bowie Baysox are in their 16th season as the "AA" affiliate of the Baltimore Orioles. Baysox individual game tickets, season ticket plans, group outings, picnics and birthday parties are currently available for booking by calling the Baysox front office at (301) 464-4880.

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