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Sports

Baysox Notebook: Bowie Hoping to Hold onto Western Division's Final Playoff Spot

The Baysox trail Harrisburg by 4.5 games for first place, but lead Richmond by 1.5 games for the Western Division's second, and final, playoff spot.

Sunday’s 4-1 win against Erie may have snapped Bowie’s brief losing streak, but the damage had already been done.

With three straight losses during the latter part of last week, the Baysox now trail Harrisburg by 4.5 games for first place in the Eastern League’s Western Division with just more than a week left in the season. They do, however, still lead Richmond by 1.5 games for the division’s second, and final, playoff spot. The top two teams in each of the Eastern League’s two divisions qualify for the playoffs.

Bowie begins a four-game home series with Altoona Monday before closing out the regular season with a four-game home series against Erie.

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WARING SETS RECORD

With his game-tying home run in the eighth inning of Sunday’s win against Erie, Baysox infielder Brandon Waring established a new team record for career home runs (43). Outfielder Keith Reed previously held the record.

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Reed, an outfielder, played for Bowie from 2002-04, hitting 42 home runs during that span.

Waring is batting just .227 this season, but has a team-best 20 home runs, ranks second on the team in RBI (58), is tied for second in triples (3) and is tied for third in doubles (21). After struggling during the early part of the season, batting just .189 in 69 games before the All-Star break, he is hitting .291 in 39 games since the All-Star break with 23 extra-base hits – 12 doubles, two triples and nine home runs – and 27 RBI during that stretch.

Waring slugged 22 home runs for Bowie last season and another in limited action with the Baysox in 2009.

DIAZ EXCELLING SINCE RE-JOINING TEAM

Jose Diaz may have struggled during a two-month stint with Class-AAA Nolfolk, but since re-joining Bowie earlier this month, the right-handed reliever has been nearly unhittable.

In seven appearances since re-joining the Baysox, during which he has recorded four saves, the mammoth, hard-throwing 6-foot-4, 300 pound Diaz has limited opposing hitters to just one run and six hits in 6 2/3 innings of work. He has nine strikeouts, and has issued just two walks, during that same stretch.

Diaz was 0-1 with only one save a 5.68 ERA in 14 appearances with the Tides, but is 0-2 with 21 saves and a 1.45 ERA in 32 appearances for Bowie this season. With the Baysox, he has 37 strikeouts and just 11 walks in 31 innings of work.

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