ERIE, Pa. — The Chesapeake Baysox dropped a 7-3 road decision to the Erie SeaWolves on Wednesday night at UPMC Park, falling to 11-11 on the young season while the Detroit Tigers’ Double-A affiliate improved to an unspecified record.
Playing in chilly, drizzly conditions, the Baysox fell behind early and could not recover against a SeaWolves team that capitalized on mistakes and power hitting. Erie jumped ahead 3-0 in the bottom of the first when Seth Stephenson reached on an error, stole second and scored on a broken-bat check-swing dribbler. Left-hander Luis De León then surrendered a two-run homer to John Peck, marking the first home run De León had allowed since Aug. 2, 2024, while with High-A Aberdeen. The blast ended a streak of 119 consecutive innings without surrendering a long ball, including 32 scoreless innings to open his Baysox career.
Erie extended the lead in the fourth. Izaac Pacheco hit a solo home run, and a double later in the inning drove in another run. De León (1-2) was charged with five runs (four earned) on four hits in three and one-third innings. He struck out four and walked three before exiting.
The Baysox managed just one run through the first five innings against Erie starter Carlos Peña (3-1). Adam Retzbach led off the fifth with a double, advanced to third on a groundout and scored when a ball in the dirt lodged in the catcher’s gear of Thayron Liranzo.
Chesapeake’s bullpen delivered strong relief work. Left-hander Micah Ashman retired all five batters he faced with three strikeouts, lowering his season ERA to 1.32. Right-hander Yaqui Rivera followed with a perfect inning, striking out the side.
Erie added two insurance runs in the eighth after capitalizing on a pair of Baysox errors. Chesapeake responded with two late runs in the ninth. Ethan Anderson led off with a double and scored on a groundout by Thomas Sosa. Aron Estrada then launched a solo home run an estimated 389 feet to right field. It was Estrada’s second consecutive game with a homer and the third time in his professional career he has gone deep in back-to-back contests.
The Baysox and SeaWolves split the first two games of their six-game series. The rubber match is scheduled for Thursday night at 6:05 p.m. from UPMC Park. Left-hander Sebastian Gongora (0-0, 3.18 ERA) will start for Chesapeake against left-hander Lael Lockhart (1-1, 4.98 ERA at Triple-A) for Erie.
The loss dropped Chesapeake to 11-11 overall. The club will return home next week for a six-game series against the Altoona Curve, the Double-A affiliate of the Pittsburgh Pirates, beginning Tuesday, May 5 at Prince George’s Stadium in Bowie.
The Baysox, the Orioles’ Double-A affiliate, continue to feature a mix of prospects and developing talent from the Baltimore system. Southern Maryland fans have followed the club closely since its move to Bowie, with many residents from Calvert, Charles and St. Mary’s counties making the relatively short drive to support the team on homestands. Wednesday’s game highlighted both the offensive struggles early and the resilience of the bullpen, areas the team will look to tighten as the season progresses through the Eastern League schedule.
