EL1 Chesapeake Baysox

Bascom Baffles Aeros

Published on April 22, 2010 under Eastern League (EL1)
Chesapeake Baysox News Release


BOWIE, Md. - The Bowie Baysox picked up seven extra base hits en route to beating the Akron Aeros 7-2 Thursday at Prince George's Stadium for Bowie's second consecutive victory. The win moves the Baysox to 11-4 on the season and keeps the team half a game behind Altoona in the division.

Baysox starter Tim Bascom picked up his second win of the season with an impressive one-run, one-walk game in seven innings that left him with a 1.00 ERA. He fell behind early, as he walked Tim Fedroff to start the game and threw a wild pitch to the next batter to move Fedroff to second. Lonnie Chisenhall drove Fedroff in with a single to left before Bascome found a groove. After the RBI single, Bascom retired the next six batters he faced and nine of the next 10.

"Every time he went inside, he did not miss over the plate," catcher Caleb Joseph said. "When he does that he's very successful, and he never missed over the plate one time and he did a great job, just a few dinker hits ... And for us to come back from a seven-hour road trip and kind of having a sour feeling in our mouth after losing two from Erie, he just came in and pounded the zone and gave us a chance to win. Great job, I can't tip my cap any more to the guy."

"I think last year, one of my bigger problems was I was trying to throw too many perfect pitches," Bascom said, of his evolution as a player. "Now I'm just going at hitters and they do what they're gonna do. If they're going to get a hit, they're going to get a hit, I'm just going to try to throw strikes no matter what."

"He was lights-out tonight," Joseph concluded. "I don't even know if the Yankees could've hit him tonight."

The Baysox suddenly red-hot offense provided Bascom with more than enough run support. The team notched 14 hits Thursday night with six players getting multiple hits to follow Wednesday's 12-hit showing in Erie. Right fielder Paco Figueroa led off the bottom of the first with a double down the left field line. Center fielder Miguel Abreu followed with a ground ball to shortstop. Carlos Rivero fielded the ball and threw to third, but Akron third baseman Lonnie Chisenhall could not haul in the throw. Figueroa was ruled safe at third on the error, and Abreu alertly took second base on the play. Left fielder Tyler Henson drove both runners in with a double to right field to give the Baysox a 2-1 lead. Henson also had an RBI single and a triple in the game, and is now the Baysox RBI leader with eight knocked in.

Designated hitter Joel Guzman doubled the Baysox score two batters later when he hammered the ball just past the right field wall for a two-run homer. It was the second home run for Guzman in as many days, leaving him tied for the team lead in home runs with three and six RBIs to go with them.

"It always helps when you can score early," said Baysox manager Brad Komminsk. "To be able to drop a four-spot on them, I think we were lucky. They made an error throwing Paco out at third, he would've been out and it would've changed everything around, but I think what happens happens."

Figueroa had a big game all-around, with a double in each of the first two innings and a walk in the third to go 2-5 to nudge his batting average over the .300 mark. He drove in a run in the second inning and scored on Henson's single to push the Baysox lead to 6-1.

Even though he went hitless, center fielder Miguel Abreu made an impact in the game with his defense. Abreu is in his third week in the Baysox outfield after spending most of last season as an infielder. One remarkable play in the second inning saw him make a diving catch after sprinting far over to right field.

"Me and Danny Figueroa, we always have the communication so it's hard to hit the ball in our field because we know the [hitters] and we know our field," Abreu said. "This was Paco Figueroa, and he doesn't know about the guy hitting, so we shifted to the right line because [Rivero] was a right field guy. So I moved him to the line and the ball was hit to the gap and it started moving back to right field; he kind of froze and he didn't say, ‘I got it!' So I kept going until he told me ‘You've got it!' and that's when I caught it."

Second baseman Ryan Adams drove in the Baysox final run with an RBI double in the third inning to give the Baysox a 7-1 lead. Right hander Pedro Beato worked a scoreless inning of relief in the eighth inning and lefty Chad Thall allowed a solo home run in the ninth inning as he closed out the victory.

The Baysox take on Akron again Friday at 7:05 p.m. in game two of the four-game series. That game, as well as Saturday's, will feature the Baysox signature fireworks celebration after the game, presented by Educational Systems Federal Credit Union.

Think Outside The Box with the Baysox in 2010. The Baysox 18th season as the class Double-A affiliate of the Baltimore Orioles is underway. Catch all the action in Natural Definition! Baysox full-season and partial-season ticket packages are available now at www.baysox.com or by calling the group sales department at (301) 464-4880.

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Eastern League Stories from April 22, 2010


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