7/8: Offense Carries Baysox to 8-4 Victory

BOWIE, Md. -- The Baysox bats struck early and often to back Luis Ysla en route to an 8-4 win in front of 4,546 at Prince George's Stadium Sunday afternoon to close out the season's first half.

The Senators opened the scoring for the fifth time in the series, but Bowie quickly answered with six runs over the next two innings to take an early lead. A pair of singles and a sacrifice bunt set the table for D'Arby Myers in the second inning. With one out, the left fielder grounded a RBI single through the left side to plate Mountcastle.
After extending his hit streak to 12 games with his single in the second inning, Mountcastle added some RBI to his day, sending a three-run home run off the base of the light tower in left field. Home run No. 8 of the season for the Eastern League All-Star scored Ademar Rifaela and Corban Joseph, and gave the hosts a 6-1 lead.
The Baysox (39-49) continued their offensive outburst one inning later, tacking on a single run in the fourth inning to extend their lead to 7-1. With the bases loaded, Aderlin Rodriguez beat out a potential double play to score Ryan McKenna and record his team-leading 44th RBI of the season.
Harrisburg (46-43) rallied with three runs across the sixth and seventh innings and threatened multiple times, but Martin Cervenka added some key insurance in the eighth inning. The hero of Saturday night's contest, the Baysox catcher led off the frame by launching his eighth home run of the year to deep left-center field off Senators reliever Ronald Peña.
On the mound, Luis Ysla (5-3) held the Senators to three earned runs over 5.1 IP, tying a season-high with eight strikeouts. Zach Muckenhirn and Matthew Grimes minimized the recurring Harrisburg rallies, while RHP Branden Kline earned his sixth save of the year by tossing 1.2 scoreless innings.
The Baysox head on a three-day break during All-Star Break 2018 before hitting the road for a four-game series at Reading to take on the Fighting Phils for the first time in 2018. First pitch in Pennsylvania is set for 7:15 p.m. ET, when LHP Brian Gonzalez takes the mound to kick off the second half of the 2018 campaign.