AKRON, Ohio — Left-handed starter Luis De León delivered a career night for the Chesapeake Baysox, taking a no-hit bid into the seventh inning and throwing eight shutout frames in the Double-A affiliate of the Baltimore Orioles’ 9-0 victory over the Akron RubberDucks, the Double-A affiliate of the Cleveland Guardians, on Saturday.
De León was in command from the first pitch, retiring the initial three Akron batters on just 10 pitches. He issued a two-out walk in the second inning, but that remained the RubberDucks’ only baserunner until the fifth, when a throwing error put Bennett Thompson on second. Thompson was left stranded at third.
The left-hander induced ground ball outs throughout the early going, recording 14 of his 24 outs via the ground ball, including seven of the first nine. He notched his first strikeout in the fourth and finished with five punchouts while throwing a career-high 93 pitches. De León allowed his first hit — an infield single to Thompson — with two outs in the seventh. A soft single to left field by Juan Benjamin in the eighth accounted for the second hit.
The eight completed innings marked a new professional high for De León, surpassing his previous best of six innings pitched on August 9, 2025, for High-A Aberdeen. He improved to 4-6 on the season. The performance represented the longest start by a Baysox pitcher since Mike Baumann’s nine-inning complete game in 2019.
Offense provided strong support for the Chesapeake (9-7, 38-46) pitching staff. Doug Hodo drove in a career-best five runs. He opened the scoring in the second with a two-out, three-run double down the left-field line after the Baysox loaded the bases against starter Rafe Schlesinger. The hit chased Schlesinger after one and two-thirds innings.
Thomas Sosa added a 425-foot solo homer in the third, and Aron Estrada delivered an RBI double in the fourth. In the sixth, Hodo launched a two-run opposite-field homer — his sixth of the season — following a hit-by-pitch to Tavian Josenberger, pushing the lead to 7-0. The Baysox batted around in the inning, adding two more runs on a Dom Keegan single and a bases-loaded walk to Silas Ardoin.
Left-hander Juan Rojas struck out the side in the ninth to close out the game, preserving the Baysox’s fourth shutout victory of the season. Rojas has not allowed a run in his last three appearances spanning six innings. Since June 19, Chesapeake’s 2.84 team ERA ranks best in all of Minor League Baseball.
The Baysox will aim to split the six-game series with Akron on Sunday afternoon at 1:05 p.m. Chesapeake returns home to Prince George’s Stadium after the MLB All-Star Break, opening a nine-game homestand on Friday, July 17, against the Hartford Yard Goats with first pitch at 7:05 p.m. ET.
