BOWIE, MD - The Erie SeaWolves (17-7, 53-39) notched their 2,000th win in franchise history by holding off the Chesapeake Baysox (14-9, 43-48) in an 8-7 thriller on Thursday night.
Justice Bigbie collected another three-hit game to extend his franchise-record hit streak to 22 games. The performance lifted his Eastern League-leading batting average to .329
Kenny Serwa settled in after a difficult first inning in his 19th start of the season. The knuckleballer surrendered two runs in the first inning after four consecutive batters reached with two outs in the first, but only allowed two more baserunners over his final four innings.
Erie's offense roared to life in the third inning against Sebastian Gongora with a two-out RBI single from Andrew Jenkins before Garrett Pennington followed with a three-run homer that put the SeaWolves in front 4-2 after three innings.
Bigbie and EJ Exposito each recorded RBI singles in the fifth inning as Erie chased Gongora from the game as the left-hander allowed a season-high six runs on nine hits.
The Baysox bullpen calmed the Erie offense while Chesapeake fought back into the game. A pair of unearned runs crossed the plate in the sixth inning against SeaWolves reliever Colin Fields in his return from the injured list. Adam Retzbach's RBI single in the eighth inning brought Chesapeake within a run, but Yoniel Curet escaped the inning to take a 6-5 lead to the ninth inning.
Erie found its footing at the plate in the ninth inning as two Chesapeake errors aided a two-run frame with Seth Stephenson scoring on an error by the second baseman Aron Estrada. Peyton Graham advanced to third on that error and came across on a sacrifice fly from Jenkins.
Chesapeake immediately cut the deficit to one when Frederick Bencosme followed a leadoff walk with a two-run home run off Erie reliever Eric Silva. The Baysox put two more on before SeaWolves catcher Bennett Lee made the game's defining defensive play, fielding a bunt attempt and firing to third to retire the lead runner. Silva recorded a strikeout and a popout to escape the inning secure the 2,000th win in franchise history.
Hayden Minton starts for Erie on Friday night with a chance to even the series against Joseph Dzierwa for the Baysox. First pitch is set for 7:05 PM.
Single-game tickets, suites, picnics, The Club by Synchrony events, and Bud Light Party Deck groups are now available by visiting SeaWolves.com, calling 814-456-1300, or visiting the UPMC Park Box Office in person.