Early damage from the Altoona Curve, including a three-run top of the first off rehabbing left-hander John Means, ultimately stalled the momentum of the Bowie Baysox, who dropped Tuesday night’s series opener to the Altoona Curve by a 8-4 final.
Means would only go an inning and a third in his second rehab start back from Tommy John Surgery, tossing 45 pitches exactly. The southpaw allowed three hits, including two doubles in the frame. Jackson Glenn led off the frame with a two-bagger, before a Tsung-Che Cheng single brought him home. Following a walk, a two-run double from Carter Bins capped off Altoona’s opening frame damage in what was a 33-pitch inning for Means (L, 0-1). The left-hander would face just two batters in the second before exiting on the night, but did strike out four batters for all four of his putouts.
The Curve continued to tack on periodically throughout the night. A pair of wild pitches from right-hander Nick Richmond each brought home a run in the second and third inning respectfully. Right-hander Houston Roth entered in the fourth for Bowie, allowing a pair of runs through four frames on an RBI single and solo home run from Joe Perez, despite striking out six. Altoona would score in seven of nine frames on the night, with Cheng picking up his second RBI of the night via a sacrifice fly in the eighth off right-hander Xavier Moore.
At the plate, the Baysox were held in check most of the night by right-handed starter Sean Sullivan. Silas Ardoin notched three hits for his second-consecutive start, while Dylan Beavers also collected a pair of hits, as the pair led the way with five of Bowie’s seven hits. Ardoin’s first knock had him reach in the bottom of the third, scoring on an RBI groundout from Max Wagner. Beavers would lead off the fourth with an opposite-field double before scoring on an infield single by Billy Cook. Sullivan (W, 5-4) would allow just those two runs to cross in his 5.1 innings on four hits, striking out five. Beavers would reach three times on the evening, reaching on an error in the eighth before scoring on another as a late consolation on what was a mostly quiet night for the Baysox bats. However, for Beavers, Tuesday night marked his fifth multi-hit game at the Double-A level in just 11 contests.
Bowie did tack on a late run in the ninth as well, with Ardoin lacing his third hit of the night, eventually scoring on a Jackson Holliday sacrifice fly.
The loss drops Bowie’s record to 52-57 on the season. The Baysox sit at 21-19 in the second half standings of the Southwest division, one game out of a playoff spot. Bowie and Altoona will continue their six-game series on Wednesday night, with first pitch set for 6:35 p.m. from Prince George’s Stadium.
