[外電] Berken pitches Bowie into playoffs
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Berken pitches Bowie into playoffs
Wins eighth straight, locks up first postseason spot since 1997
By Daren Smith / MLB.com
Jason Berken will continue his roll all the way into the postseason.
The 24-year-old right-hander tossed seven scoreless innings for his eighth
straight win and the Bowie Baysox clinched an Eastern League playoff berth
Friday with a 7-1 victory over the Binghamton Mets at NYSEG Stadium.
Berken (12-3) yielded three hits and struck out eight without issuing a walk
to remain unbeaten since June 19.
"He's been throwing real well," Baysox manager Brad Komminsk said. "He gave
us seven solid innings. He didn't walk anybody and punched out eight. He's
real confident right now.
"He threw some good changeups and works all over the [strike] zone. He's been
pitching with a lot of confidence."
Berken also faced the Mets in his previous start and limited them to one hit
over seven shutout frames. He is 8-0 with a 1.97 ERA and two complete games
in his last 11 starts.
Rommie Lewis Jr. struck out three around a hit in the eighth before Gerardo
Casadiego gave up a run in the ninth for Bowie (79-54), which has won four in
a row to move four games ahead of second-place Akron in the Southern
Division. The Baysox had not reached the playoffs since 1997.
"They're very excited to clinch a plyaoff berth," said Komminsk, who guided
Akron to the 2003 Eastern League championship. "We started the year pretty
slow. We were 0-5. But the guys just kept grinding out out, playing hard
every day. It's a nice reward to be guaranteed a spot in the playoffs."
Berken is part of a quartet of starters that has helped the Baysox to a 3.41
ERA that ranks third in the league. The others are Brad Bergesen (15-4,
3.00), David Hernandez (8-4, 2.58) and Chris Tillman (9-4, 3.32). Zachary
Clark joined the team last month and is 3-1 with a 2.70 ERA in eight starts.
"We've got five pretty quality starters," Komminsk said. "Our pitching's been
good all year. It's gotten us in the position we're in now."
Bowie has gone 15-5 in August, stopping for a brief hiccup after Lou Montanez
was promoted to the Major Leagues. He was leading the league in all three
Triple Crown categories when he was called up.
"The first couple of days after he left, we struggled to find our identity
because he was so big offensively, defensively and in the clubhouse,"
Komminsk said. "We had a big game where we got a walk-off home run from Steve
Torrealba and from then on, we've been playing good, solid baseball. We
started realizing we can win without Monty in the lineup."
On Friday, Mike Rodriguez delivered a two-run triple to spark a six-run
second and Jeff Nettles hit a solo homer for Bowie. Ryan Finan contributed
two hits and scored twice.
Starter Tobi Stoner (4-6) was pounded for six runs on nine hits in 1 1/3
innings for Binghamton (69-64), which has lost two in a row.
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