CarL1 Frederick Keys

Booming Debut for Baker

Published on August 2, 2011 under Carolina League (CarL1)
Frederick Keys News Release


In his Orioles' organizational debut, 1B Aaron Baker hit a two-run home run in the seventh inning to break a four-all tie. The Keys went on to defeat the Lynchburg Hillcats, 7-4, on Tuesday night in Frederick. Hillcat mistakes aided the Keys in the earlier innings as three of Frederick's first four runs were unearned. Lynchburg finished with three errors in the contest. With the win, the Keys improved to 25-12 in the second half of the season and upped their lead in the Northern Division to four games.

Lynchburg struck first in the series opener. 3B Joey Terdoslavich hit a Ryohei Tanaka offering off the center field wall for a RBI double in the top of the fourth inning. Later in the frame, Terdoslavich scored on a Christian Bethancourt sac fly to center.

Trailing by a pair of runs, the Keys' offense, aided by the Hillcats' defense, went to work. With 2B Jonathan Schoop at third and SS Manny Machado at first, Aaron Baker stepped to the plate. In his second at bat as a Key, Baker grounded a ball to the right side of the infield that was snared by 1B Joey Terdoslavich. Terdoslavich fired to second for the force and SS Andrelton Simmons returned to throw to first. Originally ruled out, the umpires met and ruled that Blaine Sims was off the bag.

With the deficit cut in half, Frederick loaded the bases with two outs in the inning. With LF Kipp Schutz at the dish, Schutz hit a hard ground ball at SS Andrelton Simmons. Simmons failed to field the ball cleanly. In a hurry, he fired over to first but his throw went under the glove of Terdoslavich at first. Two runs scored on the play. Simmons was charged with two errors and both runs that came home were unearned.

The Keys added another unearned run in the fifth inning. Following a lead off walk by 3B Dale Mollenhauer, Sims tried to pick off Mollenhauer at first base. Sims' throw got away and Mollenhauer advanced to third on throwing error. Two batters later, Manny Machado singled home Mollenhauer to put Frederick in front by a pair of runs.

The Hillcats plated two runs in the sixth inning to erase their deficit.

With the score tied at four entering the bottom of the seventh, Aaron Baker came through in the clutch. Traded from the Pittsburgh Pirates in exchange for 1B Derrek Lee over the weekend, Baker hit a two-run shot off RHP Mike Lamm to right-center. Baker's blast put the Keys in front for good on the night.

Frederick's bullpen (Startup, Moreland, Gleason) combined to throw four scoreless innings of relief in the game. Kenny Moreland improved to 2-0 on the year on the night while Sean Gleason notched his league-leading 31st save of the season.

Game two of the three-game series between the Keys and Hillcats will take place on Wednesday night in Frederick. LHP Nick Haughian (8-4, 3.41) will get the nod for the Keys while the Hillcats will turn to LHP Chris Masters (6-5, 3.17). First pitch from Harry Grove Stadium is scheduled for 7:00 p.m.

Check out the Frederick Keys Statistics

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Carolina League Stories from August 2, 2011


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