All locked up at 3-apiece in the seventh inning, a ball into the corner turned into a nightmare for the Baysox.
Erie’s Daz Cameron lined a ball down the right field line fair into the Baysox bullpen. Bouncing about the bullpen bench in play Ademar Rifaela picked it up and fired it in. His throw was awry of the cutoff man and Cameron restarted his jets to score. The triple and error allowed the winning run to come home. For the Baysox it signaled a 4-3 defeat in the series opener at UPMC Park.
The loss was the third in a row and six of their last seven for the Baysox.
All night long the Baysox were battling back. Down 2-0 in the third inning, Jaycob Brugman lifted a two-run home run to right field to knot the score at 2. In the fourth inning, trailing 3-2, it was Ademar Rifaela’s turn. With Aderlin Rodriguez at second after a double, Rifaela delicately lined the ball into center allowing Rodriguez to hustle around with the tying run.
In the ninth inning it appeared the Baysox may be on the comeback again. With two down, Ryan McKenna was hit by a pitch. He then went first to third on a single to right by Brugman. The throw sailed over the cutoff man to third base and Brugman looked to race into scoring position. Erie 3B Josh Lester aggressively charged the short throw and fired to second retiring Brugman to end the game.
The Baysox return to action for the second of five games in Erie Saturday, June 30th at 7:05 p.m. LHP Brian Gonzalez will be on the hill for Bowie. Coverage will begin 20-minutes prior on 1430-AM WNAV and 99.9 FM in Annapolis.
The next Baysox home game will be on Independence Day, Wednesday, July 4th at 6:35 p.m. as the Baysox host the Harrisburg Senators (Nationals). Get tickets over phone at 301-464-4865 or online at baysox.com.
