The week that was ended with a resounding thud at Prince George’s Stadium this weekend, as a Saturday rainout and a 9-0 loss Sunday followed a four-game Baysox winning streak over the Akron RubberDucks.
The Baysox made quick work of the RubberDucks Friday night, a 2-1 win in an hour and 52 minutes. In his first official start since 2019 after undergoing Tommy John Surgery, Brenan Hanifee threw three innings, striking out six batters before handing things to Garrett Stallings.
Continuing a stellar trend of long relief, Stallings (W, 3-7) tossed six scoreless innings on the back end to secure the Bowie win. Stallings has now fired 15-consecutive scoreless frames, the longest for a Bowie pitcher this season, and has allowed only two hits in six innings while striking out seven batters.
Joey Ortiz homered in the fourth inning to tie the game, then went deep in the sixth for the lead. It was Ortiz’s first career multi-home run game.
Bowie swept a doubleheader from their guests Thursday night, their second doubleheader sweep of the season, using a one-hit shutout to take game one, 2-0, and smashing four home runs to win game two, 9-1.
Connor Norby collected a pair of solo homers off Tanner Bibee (L, 0-1) in game one, his first homers in Double-A. Bibee threw a six-inning complete game around the homers.
In his second career start at Prince George’s Stadium, Kyle Bradish (W, 1-0) spun five scoreless innings in his second start on a rehab assignment and has worked eight scoreless innings overall with Bowie.
Finishing the job in the top of the sixth, Adam Stauffer tossed two more perfect innings, striking out four to earn his first save of the season.
In the nightcap, for the second night in a row, Colton Cowser led off the fourth inning with a solo blast, his fourth of the year. Later, Greg Cullen added a two-run blast to give Bowie a 5-1 edge.
Bowie struck again in the fifth, as Zach Watson smashed a two-run home run off Thomas Ponticelli, and Cowser later in the same inning added another two-run shot.
In Wednesday’s series opener, Bowie plated most of their runs on two swings in the fourth inning. Cowser led off with a solo blast, his third of the season, and Shayne Fontana, in his first game back with Bowie following an IL stint, ripped a three-run home run.
Akron slugged three home runs in Sunday’s 9-0 Rubber Ducks rout, including a pair of three-run blasts in the eighth inning by Brayan Roccio and Daniel Schneeman.
The loss drops Bowie to 38-48 on the season, 11-6 in the second half of the year. Following a four-day break, Bowie will begin a three-game series on the road with the Richmond Flying Squirrels at The Diamond Friday, with first pitch scheduled for 6:35 p.m. EST.
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