EL1 Chesapeake Baysox

Phillies Railroad Baysox

Published on June 15, 2010 under Eastern League (EL1)
Chesapeake Baysox News Release


BOWIE, Md. - The Bowie Baysox were routed 7-2 by the Reading Phillies Tuesday night at Prince George's Stadium. After falling to 33-31 on the season, the Baysox remain in second place in the six-team Eastern League Western Division.

Starting pitcher Ryohei Tanaka had a rough night and left the mound after just four innings, allowing six runs on seven hits as he dropped his seventh decision of the year.

"It wasn't a good night for him," said Baysox Pitching Coach Kennie Steenstra. "I thought his stuff was ok, but his location was missing all night. [There were] multiple times where [catcher] Caleb Joseph was set up to one side and he threw it to the other, and that's not like him. Just not very sharp tonight, for whatever reason. I don't know if it was the extra day of rest or if he was just a little too strong today, but location just wasn't there."

He was afforded no time to settle in as the Phillies attacked him immediately, with three hits by the first five batters to produce a 2-0 Reading lead. The second inning had a similar outcome, as a single by catcher Tuffy Gosewisch and a double by shortstop Freddy Galvis put runners on the corners to begin the inning. Gosewich and Galvis scored to double the lead courtesy of a groundout to second base by Ozzie Chavez and a sacrifice fly by outfielder Quintin Berry.

Tanaka got some much-needed breathing room as he was able to send the Phillies three-up, three-down in the top of the third before the Baysox broke up the shutout in the bottom half of the inning, thanks to a two-out single by Danny Figueroa that second baseman Ryan Adams followed with his 17th double of the season to plate Figueroa. The double moved Adams into a six-way tie for third place on the Eastern League doubles leaderboard.

Tanaka's respite was short-lived, and the Phillies continued to hammer away at him in the top of the fourth inning, tacking on two more runs as Chavez and Berry drove Gosewich and Galvis across the plate once again to extend the Reading lead to 6-1.

Right-hander Eddie Gamboa came on to relieve Tanaka at the start of the fifth inning, facing right fielder Domonic Brown, the Eastern League leader in slugging percentage coming into the game. Brown crushed Gamboa's fourth-pitch fastball high over the outer center field wall to put the Baysox in a 7-1 hole.

"It was a hitter's count, 2-1, and we went right after him," Gamboa said. "He got it in the wind and got out. It was a great shot. I faced him last year, so we kind of knew how we could get him out, but in a hitter's count you've got to go right after him. That's the big difference between a 2-1 pitch and a 1-2. Once I fell behind, I was in trouble. He's a good hitter, and I just had to put that behind me and go back to the next hitter and try to get out of that inning."

Gamboa showed good composure by striking out the next three batters to get out of the fifth, and worked his way out of a tricky jam in the top of the sixth inning. He faced runners on first and second with no outs after he hit Gosewisch and gave up a single to Galvis, but managed a double play groundball to first base before another strikeout got him out of the inning.

"That's the game that I try to go through, let them put the ball in play and let my defense play it," Gamboa said. "They made an awesome play right there, I was just fortunate to get to first before the throw from Rojas. It was just a great play, and it builds some confidence and looking forward to getting out there and doing it again next time."

Former Baltimore Oriole Jim Hoey took the mound for the Baysox to start the seventh inning and faced just one batter over the minimum through two hitless innings while tallying three strikeouts. Hoey has held opponents scoreless through his last 15.1 innings of work while giving up just eight hits in that span.

"He's pitched very well," Steenstra said. "He had the rough one in Trenton that kind of skewed his numbers around a little bit, but he's pitched very well for us the last couple of weeks. He's doing everything we've asked him to do and we'll just see where it goes from there."

"[Hoey's fastball is] still fairly straight, but I think he's been doing a much better job of pitching down and getting that downward plane on his pitches," Steenstra explained. "For me the key for him is still that slider. Making sure he can throw that slider for strikes, and also throw it out of the zone to get people to chase. That's a pitch we've been concentrating on a little bit more, but he's doing a nice job right now."

The Baysox mustered one last push to get back in the game in the bottom of the ninth inning, as third baseman Joel Guzman smashed the half-inning's first pitch out of the park to make the score 7-2 and grab a share of the Eastern League lead with his 15th home run of the year.

First baseman Robbie Widlansky and left fielder Tyler Henson followed Guzman's bomb with a pair of singles, and designated hitter Steve Lerud advanced Widlansky to third on a ground ball that forced Henson out at second. That was as far as the Baysox would get, though, as outfielder Jonathan Tucker and shortstop Carlos Rojas both struck out to end the game.

The Baysox return to action against the Phillies Wednesday at 7:05 as they head into a weekend full of exciting events at Prince George's Stadium. Thursday's finale against Reading will be the Brad Bergesen bobblehead giveaway. Bergesen was the Eastern League Pitcher of the Year in 2008, after winning 15 games for the Baysox. He went on to start 19 games in Baltimore in 2009, with a 3.43 ERA. The first 1,000 fans ages three and up receive the bobblehead, presented by Optima Services.

The Baysox host a camp-out on the outfield for Boy Scouts on Friday, June 18 and on Father's Day, June 20, families have the opportunity to play catch on the outfield and meet the Baysox players and coaches in a free autograph session before the game from 12:30 p.m. until 1:15 p.m. Sunday's game also gives fans 18 and up a chance to win a big screen TV courtesy of Best Buy of Bowie in the Miss Utility Diamond Dig.

The club holds its ninth annual Tribute to the Negro Leagues on Saturday, June 19, with former Negro League players available for autographs and pre-game ceremonies honoring the players who endured the color barrier in baseball.

To sign your scouts up for the camp-out, please contact Chris Rogers with the Baysox at (301) 464-4855.

Check out the Chesapeake Baysox Statistics

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Eastern League Stories from June 15, 2010


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