An early offensive onslaught propelled the Bowie Baysox to a 9-2 win over the Altoona Curve in front of 3,114 at Prince George’s Stadium Thursday night.
After starter Pedro Vasquez tossed eight scoreless in the last matchup against Bowie Saturday night, Cedric Mullins put an end to the repeat chance one batter into the game. A leadoff home run down the right field line marked the first such long ball since Austin Hays on August 26, 2018. Jesse Valentin extended the margin to 2-0 on a first-pitch RBI single up the middle, scoring Ryan McKenna.
Bowie (41-21) struck for two more runs in the second inning and increased their lead to 4-0. Mullins drove in Mason McCoy for his second RBI in as many innings via a bases-loaded sacrifice fly to left field. Two batters later, Anderson Feliz lined a bases-loaded single up the middle to plate Brett Cumberland.
The hosts busted the game open with a three-run fourth inning. A walk and a hit-by-pitch issued by reliever Angel German set the stage for Feliz, who lofted a two-run double off the top of the left-center wall, easily scoring Mullins and McKenna to give the former Altoona infielder three RBI against his former squad. One batter later, Carlos Perez lined a single up the middle to score Feliz on his first hit of the game.
Logan Hill broke up the shutout bid with a solo home run in the sixth inning, but that was all Altoona (28-33) could muster offensively against Zac Lowther. The lefty scattered five runs and struck out six to earn his league-leading 13th win of the season. The Curve threatened with a bases-loaded scenario in the third inning, but Lowther retired Oneil Cruz and Hill with a pair of fly balls to escape the jam.
The guests scratched another run in the seventh inning, but the Baysox completed their big night at the plate with two more runs in the eighth inning. McKenna drove in his first run via a sacrifice fly to left field off Jesse Medrano, while Feliz sent his second wallscraping double of the night to score T.J. Nichting and give the second baseman a four-hit, four-RBI game.
LHP Alex Wells (8-3, 2.40 ERA) takes the hill for the Baysox against Curve LHP Sean Brady (3-10, 4.19 ERA) in game two of the four-game series Friday night at 7:05 p.m.
