Baysox Notebook: Pitching Fueling First Place Baysox

Although Bowie still finds itself struggling to consistently generate offense, the Baysox’s pitching staff, most recently starter Zach Clark, has helped pick up the slack, propelling the team to win six of its last eight games—including four in a row.

Clark limited visiting Richmond to just one run on three hits as the Baysox beat the Flying Squirrels, 3-1, Sunday afternoon, completing Bowie’s first three-game series sweep at home since July of last year.

Fueled by Clark and the rest of their pitching staff, the Baysox have held seven of their last eight opponents to four runs or less, including five of their last six to two runs or less. Bowie has yielded more than four runs in just six of its last 22 games.

And even despite the fact they’re hitting just .244 as a team, the Baysox (13-10) currently sit in first place in the Eastern League’s Western Division.

The 28-year-old Clark (3-1), a UMBC product, leads Bowie in wins while reliever Cole McCurry’s 0.61 ERA is a team-best. Including McCurry, Bowie has seven pitchers with ERA’s of 2.28 or better, each of whom has appeared in multiple games. Twenty-four-year-old starter Wynn Pelzer (1-1, 0.95 ERA) has allowed just one run and eight hits in three starts this season. He is scheduled to start tonight’s series opener against Harrisburg, the Double-A affiliate of the Washington Nationals.

MAHONEY RETURNS

After missing 14 games with a quad injury, first baseman Joe Mahoney returned to play Thursday and, after going a combined 1-of-4 in Thursday’s doubleheader against Akron, is 6-of-15 (.400) with three runs scored and a home run in the last four games.

The 6-foot-6-inch, 240-pound Mahoney, the Orioles’ 2010 Minor League Player of the Year in 2010, hit .319 with 12 doubles, nine home runs and 29 RBI in 52 games with the Baysox last season after being promoted from Single-A Frederick. Prior to being promoted, Mahoney batted .299 with 18 doubles, nine home runs and 49 RBI in 72 games with the Keys.

JOSEPH HEATING UP, WARING STRUGGLING

Catcher Caleb Joseph, who hit a game-winning home run in Bowie’s 3-2, 18-inning, win against Richmond Saturday, is batting .353 (12-of-34) with five runs scored, three home runs, eight RBI and seven walks in the last 10 games.

His .305 batting average is second on the Baysox, behind only Mahoney (.308).

Third baseman Brandon Waring, meanwhile, is still trying to find his rhythm at the plate early in the season. The power-hitting Waring, who was named 2008 Carolina League MVP while at Single-A Frederick, is just 2-of-27 (.074) with no home runs and no RBI in Bowie’s last eight games. He has struck out nine times during that span. For the year, he is batting just .203 and has only two home runs and nine RBI. A former seventh-round pick of the Reds (2007), Waring posted at least 20 home runs in each of his previous four minor league seasons, including a combined 49 during his two years in the Orioles’ organization—22 of which came with the Baysox last year.