Baysox walk away with 8-1 win over SeaWolves
August 30, 2005 - Eastern League (EL1)
Chesapeake Baysox News Release
BOWIE, Md. - Six different batters drove in runs and Cory Morris pitched six strong innings as the Baysox opened their final homestand of the season with an 8-1 victory over Erie at Prince George's Stadium.
The win keeps the Baysox (72-64) a game ahead of Altoona (71-65) for the Southern Division's final playoff spot. It also assures Bowie of a second consecutive winning season, the first time since 1993-1994 that the club has finished above .500 in back-to-back years.
Joey Hammond set the tone for the night when he took Matt Beech's first pitch of the game over the leftfield wall for a leadoff home run, his ninth of the season.
Bowie added two more runs in the first on RBI singles by Geronimo Gil and Ryan Hubele.
The Baysox made it 4-0 in the third. With one out, Gil was hit by a pitch. Simon Pond followed with a hard liner down the leftfield line. As Gil lumbered around the bases, Mike Woods misplayed the ball in the corner, allowing the 6-foot-2, 229-pound catcher to score all the way from first.
Morris made sure that the SeaWolves had no such adventures on the basepaths tonight, turning in one of his best performances of the season. Morris (8-5) retired the first ten batters he faced before Scott Tousa reached on a seeing-eye single that eluded a diving Hammond at second base. Morris lost the shutout two batters later when Juan Tejeda hit a blooper into right that fell in front of Woody Cliffords. Tousa, who had moved up to second on a ground out, scored easily on the two-out hit, cutting Bowie's lead to 4-1.
"Getting three runs in the first I thought was super for Cory to settle in and relax," manager Don Werner said. "He pitched a great game for six innings, and I thought he worked great with Gil."
Only one ball was hit hard off Morris (a line single to right off the bat of Tousa in the sixth), and he walked just one batter after having issued six free passes in his previous start. He struck out six and gave up only three hits.
The SeaWolves pitching staff, however, had considerable control issues. Four pitchers combined to walk 12 batters, a new Baysox record that surpasses the old mark of 11 set on April 10, 1993 at London. That was only the fifth game in Baysox history and the team's first-ever road game. Mike Bumatay, who came in to record the final out of the eighth inning, was the lone SeaWolves hurler not to issue a walk.
Given the number of baserunners they faced in the game, Tuesday's result could have been much worse for Erie. Only three of the batters that walked came around to score.
One of those was Nick Markakis, who drew a one-out walk in the seventh. He moved to second on a single by Brandon Marsters, then scored when pitcher Adam Peterson threw the ball into centerfield while trying to start a double play on come-backer to the mound.
The Baysox broke the game open with three runs in the bottom of the eighth. Hammond, unsurprisingly, walked to start the inning, and advanced to second on a single by Brandon Fahey. Tripper Johnson plated Hammond with a single that went in and out of Tejeda's glove after he made a diving stop. Fahey scored on a passed ball, then Markakis brought Johnson home with a ground rule double to the deepest part of the park.
BAYSOX NOTES: Gil will spend two more games with the Baysox and will rejoin the Orioles in Boston on Friday. In his first game back since being placed on the disabled list with a strained left thumb, Gil went 1-for-1 with an RBI and a walk. He was also hit by a pitch. Gil caught the first six innings of the game before giving way to Marsters...OF Ramon Nivar was originally in the starting lineup tonight but was scratched with a lingering hamstring injury...The Baysox added former major leaguer Jose Herrera to the roster on Tuesday. Herrera had been playing for Newark in the independent Atlantic League, where he was hitting .321 with 16 homers and 68 RBI. The 33-year-old outfielder appeared in 141 games with Oakland in 1995 and 1996...The Orioles signed Herrera thinking that they would need a bat to replace Pond, who was scheduled to join the Canadian national team in the Netherlands this week for the Baseball World Cup. But Pond decided to remain with the Baysox as they chase their first playoff berth since 1997. "It was a tough decision for him, but we're all glad he stayed," Werner said. "Now we get then bonus of having the extra guy (Herrera) on the bench. I think we're in pretty good shape offensively."
ON DECK: Orioles RHP Daniel Cabrera will make a rehab start for the Baysox on Wednesday in the second game of the series. Cabrera is slated to go about seven innings against Erie, and will be opposed by RHP Mark Johnson (4-1, 5.04). First pitch is set for 7:05 p.m
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