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EL1 Chesapeake Baysox

Baysox Take Two From R-Phils

July 17, 2008 - Eastern League (EL1)
Chesapeake Baysox News Release


(Bowie, MD) - The Baysox opened their nine-game homestand by taking both ends of a doubleheader with Reading Thursday night. In accordance with Minor League Baseball rules, both games were seven-inning affairs. Starting pitcher Jason Berken got some help from eight early runs and pitched a complete game in the opener, giving up just one run over seven innings of work. Berken allowed five hits and a walk while striking out four batters on his way to the 8-1 victory. The Baysox took game two by a score of 4-2 behind three first-innings runs and solid work by the bullpen.

The Baysox jumped all over the Phillies in the second inning of game one. Matt Wieters hit a one-out single to left field and Jeff Nettles walked to put runners on first and second. Steve Torrealba blasted a homerun over the wall in left field to give the Baysox a 3-0 lead. Blake Davis kept the inning going with a two-out double and Jonathan Tucker walked to set the table for Mike Rodriguez. With runners on first and second, Rodriguez drove a double to right field, bringing both runners in to score and increasing the lead to 5-0.

Bowie put three more runs on the board in their next turn at bat. Nolan Reimold led off the bottom of the third with a solo homerun to left field. Matt Wieters drew a walk and advanced to second on a groundout by Jeff Nettles. With two outs, Carlos Rojas brought Wieters home with a base hit up the middle and moved to second on the throw home. Blake Davis picked up a base hit into right field to plate Rojas and give Bowie an 8-0 lead.

Berken took his shutout bid down to the last out. With two outs in the top of the seventh, Neil Sellers hit a solo homerun to left-center field to ruin the shutout, but Berken got the next batter to fly out to end the game. Baysox pitching coach Mike Griffin was pleased by what he saw, "I thought he threw the ball very well tonight, I was very pleased. I think the best thing that Jason Berken did tonight was not to rush his tempo, something he's been working on this whole year. I thought he made great strides with that tonight, he and I have talked about it for a while now. He likes to run, both on and off the mound, and tonight he didn't - he walked."

Berken seemed to be on the same page as his pitching coach following the game, "When I've struggled this year my tempo has gotten quick at times. It seems that I'll be pitching well and then I'll have a whole inning where I'll get too quick and give up two runs, then I settle down again. I'm just trying to eliminate that part of my game and recognize it quicker. I'm just trying to slow my pace down, slow everything down."

The Phillies managed to score much earlier in game two. In the top of the first inning, Brad Harman hit a one-out double to left-center field and Jeremy Slayden drove him in to give Reading an early 1-0 lead.

The Baysox answered right back in the bottom of the first. Travis Brown and Sebastien Boucher walked to lead off the inning. Lou Montanez pushed a base hit up the middle to score Brown from second and Boucher attempted to move to third on the play. Boucher beat the throw from center fielder Michael Spidale and meanwhile Montanez tried to move to second. Third baseman Sellers tried to get Montanez on his way to second base, but threw the ball away into the right field corner. The error allowed Boucher and Montanez to come home and give the Baysox a 3-1 lead. Bowie tacked on another run in the bottom of the second when Blake Davis led things off with a triple to center field. Travis Brown came up and drove him in with a sacrifice fly to right field and the Baysox were up, 4-1.

Rommie Lewis started game two and worked 2.2 innings before Felix Romero and Randor Bierd took over and combined for 3.2 shutout innings of relief. Julio Manon came on to work the seventh inning and gave up a leadoff single to Michael Spidale. Manon threw a wild pitch that moved Spidale to second base and he advanced to third on a groundout by Brad Harman. Neil Sellers hit a sacrifice fly to left field to cut the Baysox lead to 4-2, but Manon got Jeremy Slayden to pop out to earn his 23rd save of the year.

With the victories, the Baysox improve to 55-44, still third place in the Southern Division. Bowie looks to keep things going Friday night, with RHP Brad Bergesen (10-3, 2.96 ERA) facing off against Reading RHP Carlos Carrasco (5-7, 4.09 ERA).

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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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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