EL1 Chesapeake Baysox

Berken Nearly No-Hits Binghamton

Published on August 16, 2008 under Eastern League (EL1)
Chesapeake Baysox News Release


(Bowie, MD) - Jason Berken carried a no-hitter through 6.2 innings as the Baysox took the second of a three-game series against Binghamton 4-0 Saturday night. Berken finished with 7.0 shutout innings, allowing one hit and four walks while striking out six batters on the way to his 11th win of the year. Blake Davis and Jonathan Tucker each went 2-for-3 with an RBI in the victory. Tucker has been red hot since outfielder Lou Montanez joined the Baltimore Orioles, batting .488 in 11 games.

Berken was outstanding. After allowing two walks in the first inning he settled down and found his groove, retiring eight batters in a row and 18 out of the next 19 batters he faced. Though his command wasn't at its best, he battled through it "I wasn't really focusing on it too much. I was really just trying to get out of that first inning since I haven't pitched in ten days and I didn't have a really good feel for the ball. I came out and I was rushing my tempo a bit, so I was just focusing on settling down and making it through the first inning. After that it was about slowing my pace down and making pitches."

The Baysox scored runs in each of their first two turns at bat. Sebastien Boucher led off the bottom of the first with a walk and Carlos Rojas hit a single to left field, moving Boucher to third. Nolan Reimold drove a sacrifice fly to right field to plate Boucher. Ryan Finan led off the bottom of the second with a base hit to right. Jeff Nettles hit a potential double-play ball to shortstop, but Luis Castillo threw wide of first on the turn, allowing Nettles to take second base. Mike Rodriguez grounded out to move Nettles to third and Jonathan Tucker drove him in with a double down the right field line to give Bowie a 2-0 lead.

Bowie added two more runs in the bottom of the fourth. Ryan Finan led off the inning with a double to the gap in left-center field and Jeff Nettles singled to right, moving Finan to third. Mike Rodriguez grounded into a double play, but Finan came in to score, increasing the lead to three. Jonathan Tucker slapped a liner toward the gap in right-center that was cut off by Fernando Martinez, but Tucker hustled around first and made a nifty headfirst slide to avoid the tag for a double. Blake Davis picked up a base hit to left field, bringing Tucker in to make the score 4-0 Baysox.

Bowie pitching coach Mike Griffin was impressed by Berken's performance, "I thought he started slow and finished strong. His tempo was a little quick there the first few innings. It was nice to see him make the adjustment starting in the third inning where he got his tempo back down to his pace. I think that was the key to the game because it allowed him to make his pitches. It allowed him to settle back down into his own pace. I've had one guy throw a no-hitter in 2003 - Bronson Arroyo. There was one other but I can't remember. Bronson threw one in 2003 but we've had a handful of others take no-hitters late into the ballgame only to lose them."

Berken came out for the seventh inning still clinging to the no-hit bid. He got Mike Carp to strike out to lead off the inning and Caleb Stewart to ground out to short. Josh Petersen drew a walk and Ambiorix Concepcion hit a flare off the end of the bat into shallow right field to break up the no-hitter. Berken settled down, striking out Shawn Bowman to retire the side.

It was the furthest Berken has gone without allowing a hit, and despite the four walks, he was pleased, "I guess I was effectively wild. I mean I made some pitches when I had to, the defense played good. I tried to throw my breaking stuff a little more, if you throw the curveball and slider more, it forces you to stay back and have sound mechanics. I think once I started throwing the curveball for strikes my fastball really took off. I think I carried a no-hitter into the seventh earlier in the year against Akron, but I think tonight was the furthest I've gone."

Griffin admitted that, had Berken gotten through the seventh unscathed, the coaching staff would have had a tough decision on their hands sending him out for the eighth, "Let's put it to you this way - it would have made things very difficult for us. We would have really thought about it."

Baysox catcher Matt Wieters has not had much experience with no-hit bids, which isn't too surprising considering it is his first professional season, "I have never called a no-hitter. Granted I've been playing in aluminum bat leagues for a while so it's kinda tough to throw a no-hitter but Jason had great stuff tonight. His command was a little off having not pitched in ten days but that's to be expected. He had great stuff and he was able to compete and take us deep. When a guy's got that kind of stuff you just let him go. I was just staying back and not saying anything."

Felix Romero and Julio Manon combined to work 2.0 shutout innings in relief, totaling five strikeouts between them. Manon's 0.2 of an inning in the ninth were enough to earn him his 29th save of the year, tops in the Eastern League.

With the victory, the Baysox improve to 75-53, now two games ahead of the Akron Aeros for first place in the Southern Division. The Baysox Magic Number is down to eight - if the Baysox win eight more games, they are guaranteed to make the playoffs! The Baysox hope to lower that number Sunday night when Bowie RHP Brad Bergesen (15-3, 3.00 ERA) goes up against Mets RHP Dillon Gee (0-0, 1.29 ERA).

Sunday evening is Fan Appreciation Night, with Baysox players and coaches signing autographs from 4:30 to 5:30. The Baysox have just four home games remaining before the postseason begins.

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 16, 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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