Cullen Clobbers Homer To Help Baysox Steal Series Over Curve In 13 Innings

BOX SCORE

BOWIE, MD – The Baysox trailed twice down to their final at bat, but rallied on both occasions, eventually walking off the Altoona Curve on a two-run home run from Greg Cullen, 7-6, in 13 innings on Saturday afternoon.

The bats were awake both early and late for both sides. Altoona led off the game with a solo home run from Jackson Glenn against rehabbing left-hander John Means. However, the Baysox quickly responded with a three-run bottom of the first. Max Wagner led off the frame with a single for Bowie, before being tripled home by Jackson Holliday to tie the game. Billy Cook then laced a two-run home run down the left field line to give the Baysox a 3-1 edge. That two-run lead would last until the ninth, thanks to the work of multiple arms on the Bowie staff. Means only allowed the lone run through four innings in his third rehab appearance for Bowie, collecting four strikeouts while walking none and allowing just two hits on 57 pitches.

Right-hander Houston Roth followed Means for Bowie, tallying three scoreless frames, stranding five runners on base in the process. Southpaw Ryan Hennan contributed a scoreless eighth inning to push the game to the ninth, where the ball was handed to right-hander Keagen Gillies. With two outs in the top of the ninth, Gillies allowed a three-run home run to Chavez Young that gave Altoona a 4-3 lead.

With the Baysox down to their final three outs in the bottom of the ninth, Silas Ardoin quickly tied the game two pitches into the frame. His first Double-A home run served as a game-tying solo blast to knot the score at four.

The two sides held one another off the board in the tenth, eleventh, and twelfth innings, with Bowie getting a pair of scoreless frames from right-hander Dan Hammer, in addition to a scoreless inning from right-hander Ignacio Feliz. In Feliz’s second inning of relief, Joe Perez mashed a go-ahead, two-run shot that put Altoona back ahead at 6-4. Feliz (W, 1-1) would limit the damage there in the top of the thirteenth.

Ardoin would provide a spark for Bowie once again. His double down the left field line against Altoona’s Oliver Garcia (L, 6-3) plated the inning’s courtesy runner, Cook, to make it 6-5. That set the stage for Cullen, who blasted a center-cut fastball 422 feet off the batter’s eye in dead center field, ending the marathon affair in dramatic fashion.

The win bolsters Bowie’s record to 56-58 overall on the season – 25-20 in the second half and one game out of a playoff spot in the second half standings of the Southwest division. The Baysox collected back-to-back walk off wins on Saturday and Sunday for the second time this season. Sunday’s contest served as Bowie’s eighth walk off win of 2023 and clinched the third-consecutive series win for the Baysox. Bowie will enjoy an off day Monday, before opening up a 12-game road trip with a six-game series against the Erie SeaWolves. First pitch on Tuesday is set for 6:05 p.m. from UPMC Park.