7/15: Three Homers Back Akin in 7-1 Victory

READING, Penn. - Keegan Akin tied the Eastern League lead for wins Sunday afternoon, shutting down the Reading Fightin' Phils while getting the aid of three home runs to help the Bowie Baysox earn a 7-1 win in front of 5,014 at FirstEnergy Stadium.

Akin earned his ninth win of the season after the series finale, tying him with Altoona's Mitch Keller for the top spot in the Eastern League. After not earning a win since June 21, the lefty bounced back by allowing a single earned run on three hits with five strikeouts in five innings. The five punchouts gave Akin an even 100 so far in 2018, tied for first with Reading's JoJo Romero-who achieved the feat last night.
Offensively, Bowie (41-51) jumped on top with single runs in three of the first four innings. Two batters into the game, Corban Joseph lined his team-leading 24^th double of the season to right field, scoring Ryan McKenna. One inning later, the Baysox strung together a rally. Jaycob Brugman and Anderson Feliz--who each had two-run, three-hit games--set the table for Erick Salcedo. A one-out fielder's choice gave the shortstop his 21^st RBI of the season and extended the lead to 2-0. A Martin Cervenka RBI single tacked on another run in the fourth inning.
From there, the Baysox utilized the long ball to full effect. Following a Heiker Menses solo shot to put Reading (43-49) on the board, Brugman immediately answered by sending a one-out solo home run to center field off reliever Alexis Rivero. Feliz followed with a single and would score one batter later on a Cervenka two-run home run to left field for the catcher's ninth long ball of the year and the third Baysox run of the inning.
Already up 6-1, Aderlin Rodriguez put the exclamation point on the afternoon in the seventh inning. The team leader in home runs launched his 12^th round-tripper of the season to deep left-center field to cap the scoring and give the visitors their third home run in two innings.
With a series split in hand this road trip, the Baysox head west for a crucial division three-game set with the Altoona Curve, Double-A Affiliate of the Pittsburgh Pirates, at People's Natural Gas Field. Game one is set for Monday night at 7 p.m. ET.