EL1 Chesapeake Baysox

Baysox Can't Catch Carp, B-Mets

Published on August 17, 2008 under Eastern League (EL1)
Chesapeake Baysox News Release


(Bowie, MD) - The Baysox got another strong outing from Brad Bergesen but couldn't put up the offense to overcome the Mets in a 2-1 loss Sunday night. Bergesen lasted 6.0 innings, allowing four hits and two runs, both on solo homeruns. Jonathan Tucker kept up his torrid offensive pace, going 2-for-3 and scoring the lone Baysox run of the night.

The Mets struck first in the top of the second inning on a leadoff homerun by Caleb Stewart to straightaway center field. Bergesen settled down and retired the rest of the side without further incident.

The Baysox evened it up with a run in the bottom of the fifth, but could have come away with more. With one out, Tucker slapped a base hit through the hole at short and into left field. Blake Davis and Sebastien Boucher each drew walks to load the bases with one away. Carlos Rojas lifted a fly ball into shallow right field and Tucker tagged up from third base. Ambiorix Concepcion made a great throw home, beating Tucker by two steps, but the speedy Tucker went into an athletic headfirst slide, reaching his left hand under the swipe of catcher Salvador Paniagua to even the game at 1-1. Tucker said he's worked on that particular slide since back in high school, "I know the ball is coming from the right-field line so his body is going to be angled in that direction. My logic was to try to get around him and I did. If the throw is going to beat you you gotta plan on making a good slide I'm not going to just slide right into the tag, I have to try to get away from it by sliding out wide and reaching out my hand so he doesn't have much to tag."

Tucker has been on fire recently. In 12 games since Lou Montanez got called up to Baltimore, Tucker is hitting .500 (23-for-46) with six doubles, seven RBI, and nine runs scored. The Baysox have won nine of those twelve games. "I'm not trying to take Lou's place, it's not like now that Lou's gone the pressure is on me to step up. It's just one of those things, I started feeling comfortable and I'm being more aggressive than I was in the middle of the season. I'm just looking for good pitches to hit at any point in the at-bat."

The Mets went back on top in the top of the sixth inning on a two-out solo homerun off the bat of Mike Carp. This marked the second game in three days that Carp has beaten the Baysox with a solo homerun. Bergesen insisted he threw his pitch and Carp simply beat him, "I felt alright. I made one bad mistake to Stewart that hit the first homerun. The second one to Carp that was the pitch I wanted to make I think he was just looking for it and he made a good swing on it."

Overall, Bergesen pitched well enough to earn a victory. He threw first-pitch strikes to the first 15 batters he faced, through the fourth inning. "It's always my goal to attack batters out of the gate and work the strike zone early."

Ryan Keefer and Chad Thall combined for 3.0 innings of scoreless relief, allowing a single hit between them. Keefer struck out two of the seven batters he faced, allowing one hit and Thall gave up just a walk pitching a scoreless ninth. After Thall allowed that walk to Mike Carp, Caleb Stewart smoked a ground ball between third and short. Third baseman Jeff Nettles made a diving stop to his left and threw to second from his knees, short hopping Carlos Rojas, who dug the ball out and finished an incredible double play.

With the loss, the Baysox move to 75-54, still leading Akron by 2.0 games for first place in the Southern Division. With a Harrisburg loss, the Baysox Magic Number to make the playoffs is down to seven. The Baysox look to start a new winning streak in Reading on Tuesday as RHP David Hernandez (8-4, 2.59 ERA) will go up against Phillies RHP Edgar Garcia (0-6, 9.50 ERA).

The Baysox will head out on a six-game road trip beginning with a three-game series in Reading Tuesday. They will head to Binghamton for three more starting Friday before returning home Tuesday. On Tuesday, August 26 the Baysox open their final regular season homestand, a three-game series against the Trenton Thunder.

The Bowie Baysox are out to Beat The Streaks in their 16th season as the "AA" affiliate of the Baltimore Orioles. The Baysox have not reached the postseason since 1997 and have never reached the Eastern League Championship. Playoff tickets are available beginning August 12th; tickets for all remaining regular season games are available on www.baysox.com or by calling the box office at (301) 464-4865.

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Eastern League Stories from August 17, 2008


The opinions expressed in this release are those of the organization issuing it, and do not necessarily reflect the thoughts or opinions of OurSports Central or its staff.

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