RHP Yefry Ramirez tossed seven shutout innings and DJ Stewart hit two home runs as the Bowie Baysox (71-66) topped the Richmond Flying Squirrels (61-76) by an 11-2 score on Saturday night at The Diamond in Richmond.
Ramirez (15-3) surrendered three hits while walking one and fanning nine over his seven innings of work. The nine strikeouts is a season-high by a Baysox pitcher and the most by any Bowie pitcher since Brandon Barker fanned 10 on July 22, 2016 vs. Erie.
Bowie now trails Altoona by one game in the Western Division with three to play.
The Baysox jumped on the board early with a pair of solo home runs in the second from Aderlin Rodriguez and Adrian Marin. The home run was Rodriguez’s 21st of the year and Marin’s second.
In the top of the third, back-to-back one out singles from Ryan Mountcastle and Austin Hays put two men on before both runners scored on Garabez Rosa’s two-run single that stretched the Bowie lead to 4-0.
Stewart hit the first of his two home runs with a solo shot in the fifth off of Richmond starter Matt Lujan that made it a 5-0 game in favor of the visitors.
Lujan (4-5) allowed the five runs on 11 hits while walking one and fanning two in 6.0 IP.
The Baysox broke the game open with a three-run seventh that extended the lead to 8-0 as Rosa knocked in a run with an RBI single, Austin Wynns delivered an RBI double and Marin came through with a sac fly.
Stewart’s two-run shot in the top of the eighth off of RHP Stephen Johnson (1.0 IP, H, 2 R, 2 ER) gave the Baysox a 10-0 advantage. The home run was Stewart’s 21st of the year and marked his second multi-homer game of the season.
K.C. Hobson’s two-run single in the bottom of the eighth put Richmond on the board. Both runs were charged to RHP Jason Garcia (1.0 IP, 3 H, 2 R, 2 ER, BB).
Erick Salcedo’s RBI double in the top of the ninth plated the 11th and final run of the night for Bowie.
Five different Baysox had multi-hit games: Hays (2-5, 2 R), Mountcastle (2-5, 2 R), Rosa (3-5, 3 RBI, R), Salcedo (3-5, 2B, RBI) and Stewart (2-5, 2 HR, 3 RBI, 2 R). LHP Tim Berry (1.0 IP, H, 2 K) tossed a scoreless inning in relief for manager Gary Kendall’s squad.
The two teams will play a doubleheader on Sunday with first pitch of game one set for 4:05 p.m. RHP Lucas Long (9-6, 2.79) gets the start for Bowie in game one against Richmond RHP Dillon McNamara (0-4, 6.52). In game two, LHP Tanner Scott (0-2, 2.28) heads to the hill for Bowie against a yet to be determined starter for Richmond.
