The Force is Not with Bowie in 4-3 Loss

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— Baysox starting pitcher Joe Gunkel (1-0, 0.00) made his second scoreless start in a row for the Baysox, but it wasn’t enough as Bowie dropped the second game of the series to Portland by a score of 4-3 in 11 innings. The lost was the first this season for the Baysox when the team was leading after seven innings (23-1).

Gunkel and Sea Dogs starting pitcher William Cuevas (6-3, 3.10) took a scoreless game into the bottom of the seventh until David Freitas hit a single to center field and made it to third on a fielding error by Sea Dogs center fielder Dave Sappelt. Garabez Rosa then hit a sacrifice fly to drive in the first run of the night and give the Baysox a 1-0 lead.

Gunkel left the game in line for the win after seven innings and giving up five hits with one walk but Portland bounced back in the eighth with Baysox reliever Mychal Givens on the mound. Jonathan Roof led off with a single and was moved to second on a wild pitch. Cole Sturgeon followed with a bunt single to move Roof to third and then stole second. Marco Hernandez doubled to drive in two runs and give the Sea Dogs a 2-1 lead.

Portland added to that lead in the top of the ninth after Sappelt reached second base on a fielder’s choice with two outs and was brought home on a single from Roof to make the Sea Dogs lead 3-1.

The Baysox fought back in the bottom of the ninth. Portland reliever Jorge Marban walked Quincy Latimore and Jason Esposito in back-to-back at bats and was then replaced by Madison Younginer who gave up a single to left field in the next at-bat to Glynn Davis. Portland’s left fielder, Roof, wasn’t able to field the hit cleanly and Latimore and Esposito scored on the fielding error to tie the game for the Baysox 3-3.

Gene Escat (1-2, 3.18) came on to replace Givens in the 10th and pitched a scoreless inning but gave up a home run to Portland’s Sappelt in the 11th. That run turned out to be the winning run as the Sea Dogs snapped a four game losing streak against the Baysox this season.

Givens (2-1, 1.69) picked up his second blown save of the season after throwing two innings and giving up a season-high three runs on four hits. Escat picked up his first loss of the year after closing out the game for the Baysox in two innings with one run on three hits and Portland’s Madison Younginer (2-2, 3.63) picked up the win on 2.2 innings pitched with no runs and two hits.

The Baysox look to take the series tomorrow afternoon against Portland at 2:05 p.m. with Terry Doyle (5-1, 2.61) on the mound against Justin Haley (1-8, 6.04) at Prince George’s Stadium. Terry Doyle was named Eastern League pitcher of the week after his last performance, a complete game shutout against Portland.