The Harrisburg Senators’ week against Chesapeake had a little bit of everything: close losses, a comeback win, a rain-shortened game, extra innings, and one walk-off finish that gave the home crowd something to remember.
By the end of the six-game set, Harrisburg had split the week’s drama but still came away with a lost series to the Baysox. The Senators remain locked in third place in their division, hanging around the .500 line for much of the season as the 2026 campaign moves toward its finish.
The opener on August 25 was one of those games that can sting for a while. Harrisburg actually out-hit Chesapeake 9-5, but the Senators came up short, 2-1.
Clemmey gave them five steady innings and allowed just one run, and the offense did manage to draw even in the fifth on Boissiere’s RBI single. But after that, the bats couldn’t cash in on the chances that followed.
De Los Santos changed the game with a leadoff homer in the seventh, and Chesapeake’s bullpen closed the door. Glassey and Cranz each turned in scoreless innings, but the Senators never found the tying run.
The next night flipped the script. Harrisburg carried a 4-1 lead into the eighth before Chesapeake clawed all the way back to tie it at 4-4.
The Senators answered in the bottom half, when Brown’s RBI single brought home Green for a 5-4 edge. Lara then helped finish it off in the ninth, keeping the Baysox off the board and preserving the win.
Susana and Dzierwa both provided strong pitching support, and Susana’s outing was notable because it marked his first time back on the mound since last August. The offense also did its damage with extra-base hits and timely swings late.
August 27 brought a different kind of frustration. Harrisburg had seven men on base through the first four innings but couldn’t break through, and the game turned into a pitching duel before rain cut it short in the seventh.
Chesapeake was up 2-0 when the stoppage came, with Anderson’s two-run homer in the fifth providing the difference. Hartle worked four scoreless innings, Swan was perfect in the sixth, and the game was ultimately called after the delay, giving the Baysox the win.
The back-and-forth chaos really took over on August 28. Chesapeake won that one 9-7 in extra innings after a game that stretched beyond three hours and featured 17 walks.
Harrisburg had the early edge, but the Baysox answered with a big fourth inning and then pushed across three more in the 10th to grab control. The Senators did make a push in the bottom of the 10th, loading the bases with two outs, but they couldn’t land the final blow.
Errors played a part too, with seven unearned runs in the game, and Honeycutt’s four-hit night helped Chesapeake keep applying pressure.
The following night looked like another Baysox power show. Chesapeake hit four home runs and built an early lead, then held on for a 9-8 win even after Harrisburg came roaring back in the ninth.
Fitz-Gerald sparked the rally with a three-run double, and Brown added an RBI single as the Senators put up four runs in the frame. They loaded the bases with two outs, but the comeback stopped there.
Then came August 30, and with it, the most electric finish of the week. Harrisburg trailed 4-0 after four innings, but the offense kept hanging around.
Lomavita and James Wood both went deep as the Senators chipped away, and by the ninth they had pulled even. Lomavita then ended it in style, launching a walk-off two-run homer in the bottom of the ninth to send Harrisburg to a 5-4 win.
He drove in four runs on the night, the bullpen held Chesapeake in check late, and Gaston picked up the victory as the Senators snapped a three-game losing streak.
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