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EL1 Chesapeake Baysox

Baysox Ground Aeros Aerials

July 4, 2010 - Eastern League (EL1)
Chesapeake Baysox News Release


BOWIE, Md. - The Bowie Baysox kept the ball in the park Saturday night in a 4-2 win over the Akron Aeros, after the Aeros hit seven home runs in the series' first two games. That feat was even more of an accomplishment for Baysox starter Steve Johnson, who gave up 10 homers in five games in June.

Johnson went 5.0 innings, giving up two runs (one earned) on five hits. It was the first time since May 10 that Johnson kept the ball in the yard, a stretch that spanned eight starts. Control was an issue for the right-handed Baltimore native, who allowed five walks with just one strikeout.

"I'm going to go celebrate [not giving up a home run]," Johnson said. "Just kidding, but it was big. I felt good. There were a lot of positive things coming out today. I had trouble through that last inning, I just kind of lost it. Before that, I felt pretty good. Throwing a lot of strikes; I was trying to pitch to contact today. That was my main thing, I was just calming things down and trying to make them hit it."

Johnson faced just three batters in the top of the first, giving up a single to leadoff man Tim Fedroff before inducing a double play, just the third of the season for the fly ball pitcher.

"I had the guy 0-2 and I was just trying to make a good pitch," Johnson said. "If I got a strikeout, I got a strikeout, and he actually put it on the ground. It was nice; I actually had two ground balls in a row. One was a hit and one wasn't. That was good."

The Baysox never trailed in the game, jumping out to a 2-0 lead in the bottom of the first inning. Eastern League All-Star Tyler Henson was the first to reach base, with a two-out walk, and he moved to second on a wild pitch to third baseman Brandon Waring. Waring drilled a double into left field, plating Henson for the game's opening run. Waring scored on the next play when first baseman Robbie Widlansky singled to right field.

Johnson issued his first free pass of the evening to catcher Damaso Espino with a full count as he opened the third inning. Espino moved to second on a groundout and put the Aeros on the board after Fedroff doubled to left-center field with one out.

The Aeros put the leadoff hitter aboard again in the fourth inning, when Beau Mills singled to right field. After John Drennen drew a walk to put runners on first and second, Espino hit a ground ball to Carlos Rojas at second base that could have been an inning-ending double play, but shortstop Greg Miclat mishandled the ball after forcing Drennen out at second. The ball got away from Miclat and Mills rounded third to tie the game at 2-2 on the error.

Johnson walked three more batters to load the bases with two outs in the top of the fifth inning, but prevented a go-ahead run when outfielder Jerad Head laid the ball at Johnson's feet with a weak ground ball, which the pitcher tossed to catcher Caleb Joseph for a force out at the plate.

Former Orioles reliever Bob McCrory came out to begin the sixth inning, and made short work of the Aeros, retiring the side with three groundouts on seven pitches.

Bowie mounted a two-out rally in the bottom of the sixth, started by back-to-back doubles to left field by Joseph and Miclat, with Joseph scoring on Miclat's hit. Rojas hit a ground ball to third base that sneaked under Lonnie Chisenhall's glove for an error that sent Miclat around third to put the Baysox up 4-2. It was a struggle for Bowie to score the winning runs, as they missed several opportunities, going 0-for-5 with five strikeouts and a walk in situations with runners in scoring position and fewer than two outs.

Miclat had the best offensive night on the club, reaching base in all four of his plate appearances as he went 3-for-3 with a walk.

"It's definitely an adjustment [to face Double-A pitchers]," Miclat said. "I feel like at first I was trying to do too much too early, but these last couple games I was just trying to settle in, keep everything still at the plate and try to track the pitch."

The Baysox bullpen continued their season-long dominance from that point on, as a Fedroff single up the middle off McCrory was the only hit through the final three innings. Jim Hoey walked a batter before he struck out two to end the eighth inning and Pedro Beato recorded his team-high seventh save in the ninth inning by retiring the Aeros in order. As a unit, the Baysox bullpen has a season ERA of 3.09.

"We've got some good arms down [in the bullpen]," said Pitching Coach Kennie Steenstra, who identified the bullpen as the club's greatest strength. "You look at guys like McCrory, Hoey and Beato, we're throwing the ball pretty well. I'm a little disappointed we had a couple walks tonight out of that bullpen, it's something we're trying to eliminate. We've got to get rid of the walks we've had lately, but for the most part the bullpen's been very solid."

With the victory, the Baysox move to 44-38 on the season and remain in second place in the Eastern League's Western Division, 8.5 games behind league leaders Altoona and 3.5 games ahead of the third-place Aeros.

The Baysox have one more game in the series with Akron, the Baysox Independence Day Celebration, which starts at 6 p.m. on Sunday, July 4. The game will feature a spectacular extended fireworks show after the game and an auction of special stars-and-stripes Baysox jerseys to benefit AMVETS.

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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