Bowie, MD (July 23, 2026) – The Chesapeake Baysox, the Double-A affiliate of the Baltimore Orioles, fell late to the Erie SeaWolves, the Double-A affiliate of the Detroit Tigers, in a 8-7 final Thursday.
Down by three runs in the bottom of the ninth, Chesapeake (14-9) cut the deficit to one, 8-7, on a Frederick Bencosme homer to right field that scored Aron Estrada with no outs. Brandon Butterworth and Anderson De Los Santos then reached on a single and walk, respectively, before three Baysox were retired in order against Erie right-hander Eric Silva (S, 1).
The Baysox got on the board first during a two-out rally that plated a pair of runs in the opening inning. In the first of four straight batters reaching safely, Butterworth smacked his fourth home run in as many games. Butterworth hit his eighth homer of the season the opposite way to right field for a 1-0 lead.
After Anderson De Los Santos singled, Griff O'Farrell scored him on a RBI single for a 2-0 advantage.
Erie responded with two-out scoring of its own in a four-run third inning. After Baysox left-handed starter Sebastian Gongora earned two outs, three straight SeaWolves reached on a hit, the last of which was a Garrett Pennington three-run home run for a 4-2 Erie lead.
The SeaWolves started a two-run fifth inning with a pair of singles and walk against Gongora (L, 8-5). A Justice Bigbie RBI single put Erie ahead 5-2 before Gongora was relieved by right-hander Gerald Ogando. Ogando allowed Bigbie (3-for-5, 2 RBI) to score on an E.J. Exposito RBI single, a run that was charged to Gongora and increased the Erie lead to 6-2.
SeaWolves right-hander Kenny Serwa (W, 5-7) earned the win by pitching five innings and not giving up a run after the first inning.
Chesapeake cut the deficit back to 6-4 with a couple of sixth inning runs. First, Doug Hodo reached on a two-out error that Tavian Josenbeger scored on. Hodo then came home a batter later on a Adam Retzbach RBI double.
Ogando was relieved by left-hander Micah Ashman, with the pair of arms combining to pitch three scoreless innings. Ogando recorded all three outs in the fifth before Ashman faced one above the minimum across the sixth and seventh frames.
After righty Jeisson Cabrera didn't give up a run in the top of the eighth, the Baysox cut the SeaWolves lead in half with another Retzbach RBI. Retzbach ripped a two-out double that scored Josenbeger to make it 6-5 Erie.
The SeaWolves added two more insurance runs in the top of the ninth. A Chesapeake throwing error let Erie's Seth Stephenson score from third and an Andrew Jenkins sacrifice fly put the SeaWolves up 8-5 before the dramatic bottom half of the inning.
The Baysox continue their series against the SeaWolves Friday. Chesapeake will send out left-hander Joseph Dzierwa (2-1, 2.54 ERA) to oppose Erie right-hander Hayden Minton (0-0, 2.29 ERA). First pitch is set for 7:05 pm Friday from Prince George’s Stadium.
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