BOWIE, MD – In a disappointing matchup at Prince George’s Stadium, the Bowie Baysox couldn’t find their offensive rhythm and suffered a 3-0 defeat at the hands of the Portland Sea Dogs on Wednesday.
The game started with the Baysox squandering early opportunities to take the lead against Sea Dogs’ right-handed starter Sterling Sharp. Making his Double-A debut, Dylan Beavers kicked off the first inning with a double. Billy Cook’s flyout advanced Beavers to third, but a ground ball from Jud Fabian resulted in Beavers being thrown out at home. Despite loading the bases with two outs, Bowie failed to capitalize as Donta’ Williams grounded out to first.
The missed chances continued into the fourth inning. Bowie’s right-handed starter, Alex Pham, managed three scoreless innings before giving up back-to-back baserunners with one out. A potential inning-ending double play turned into a costly error when second baseman Joseph Rosa’s throw went wide of the base, allowing a run to score and giving Portland a 1-0 lead. Pham struck out two batters to limit the damage.
In the bottom of the fifth, Bowie loaded the bases again, but Sharp shut them down with a groundout, completing five shutout innings for the Sea Dogs.
Portland increased their lead in the sixth with two singles that ended Pham’s day on the mound—with runners at the corners, Pham’s day concluded, having struck out a Double-A career-best seven batters through 5.1 innings. Tyler Burch, from the Bowie bullpen, allowed both inherited runners to score on consecutive hits – an RBI double from Tyler Dearden, followed by an RBI single to shallow left field from Tyler Esplin.
Throughout the game, the Baysox struggled to get their bats going, with their final nine batters retired in order, leaving them with 10 runners stranded on base. Sea Dogs’ right-hander Luis Guerrero closed out the game with a scoreless ninth inning, securing his 15th save of the season.
The loss brings the Baysox’s record to 45-53 for the season. The team will look to bounce back as they continue their six-game series with the Sea Dogs on Thursday at 6:35 p.m. ET at Prince George’s Stadium.