This is one late season race that no baseball team wants to find itself involved, but that’s where the Erie SeaWolves find themselves going into the waning games of the Eastern League’s 2012 season.

The SeaWolves were nudged nine innings closer to clinching the league’s worst record after Bowie beat them 4-2 Tuesday night at Prince George’s Stadium.

Erie is last in the league’s Western Division at 56-79. The New Hampshire Fisher Cats, last in the Eastern Division, were 59-77 after Tuesday’s 9-3 loss to Portland.

– Mike Copper

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Starting lineups for Wednesday’s Eastern League game between the Akron Aeros and the Erie SeaWolves at Jerry Uht Park:

Akron Aeros (75-53): 1. Tyler Holt CF, 2. Jordan Henry RF, 3. Thomas Neal LF, 4. Chun Chen 1B, 5. Jesus Aguilar DH, 6. Ryan Rohlinger 3B, 7. Davis Stoneburner 2B, 8. Michel Hernandez C, 9. Carlos Rojas SS.

Starting pitcher: RH Danny Salazar (2-0, 2.70 ERA).

Erie SeaWolves (55-73): 1. Niuman Romero SS, 2. Tony Plagman DH, 3. Nick Castellanos RF, 4. Jordan Lennerton 1B, 5. Avisail Garcia CF, 6. Daniel Fields LF, 7. Rawley Bishop 3B, 8. Brandon Douglas 2B, 9. James McCann C.

Starting pitcher: RH Jared Gayhart (1-3, 4.50 ERA).

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Eastern League officials announced Wednesday that the New Britain Rock Cats will host next year’s All-Star Game. New Britain Stadium will welcome some of its best players July 10, 2013.

New Britain last hosted that game in 2003. Outfielder Grady Sizemore of the Cleveland Indians was among the current Major League Baseball players who competed in Connecticut that season.

The Erie SeaWolves have never hosted an All-Star Game since joining the league in 1999.

– Mike Copper

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Starting lineups for Monday’s Eastern League game between the Akron Aeros and the Erie SeaWolves at Jerry Uht Park:

Akron Aeros (75-51): 1. Tyler Holt CF, 2. Jordan Henry RF, 3. Chun Chen 1B, 4. Nick Weglarz LF, 5. Jesus Aguilar DH, 6. Matt Lawson 2B, 7. Ryan Rohlinger SS, 8. Roberto Perez C, 9. Carlos Rojas 3B.

Starting pitcher: LH T.J. House (7-3, 3.43 ERA).

Erie SeaWolves (53-73): 1. Jamie Johnson LF, 2. Niuman Romero SS, 3. Nick Castellanos RF, 4. Jordan Lennerton 1B, 5. Avisail Garcia CF, 6. Rawley Bishop 3B, 7. Tony Plagman DH, 8. Brandon Douglas 2B, 9. James McCann C.

Starting pitcher: RH Patrick Cooper (2-8, 5.26 ERA).

– Mike Copper

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There was a 62-minute rain delay in the 12^th inning and center field-loitering skunk in the 14^th.

Neither of those factors, though, were what made the Erie SeaWolves cringe after their Eastern League marathon with Richmond at Jerry Uht Park.

In a game that began Thursday night and ended Friday morning, the SeaWolves lost for the eighth consecutive time when the Flying Squirrels won 7-6 in 15 innings at Jerry Uht Park. Only a sliver of the 2,096 fans were still in the stands when Richmond reliever Austin Fleet struck out Brandon Douglas for the final out at 12:33 a.m.

The 4 hours, 25 minutes of action didn’t include the extra-inning rain delay.

The SeaWolves slumped to 46-59 after their longest game at Uht Park since May 19, 2011. They also lost that afternoon, when Trenton scored three times in the top of the 16^th for a 9-6 victory.

– Mike Copper

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Starting lineups for Thursday’s Eastern League game between the Richmond Flying Squirrels and the Erie SeaWolves at Jerry Uht Park:

Richmond Flying Squirrels (53-52): 1. Gary Brown CF, 2. Ehire Adrianza SS, 3. Daniel Mayora 3B, 4. Tommy Joseph C, 5. Mark Minicozzi 1B, 6. Juan Perez RF, 7. Ryan Cavan 2B, 8. Luke Anders DH, 9. Nick Liles LF.

Starting pitcher: Daryl Maday RH (3-6, 3.30 ERA).

Erie SeaWolves (46-58): 1. Jamie Johnson LF, 2. Niuman Romero SS, 3. Nick Castellanos RF, 4. Jordan Lennerton 1B, 5. Avisail Garcia CF, 6. Rawley Bishop 3B, 7. Tony Plagman DH, 8. Brandon Douglas 2B, 9. Luis Sanz C.

Starting pitcher: Kelvin De La Cruz (5-8, 4.86 ERA).

– Mike Copper

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Bruce Rondon’s streak of not allowing an earned run ended Wednesday night.

The Erie SeaWolves’ losing streak didn’t.

The SeaWolves concluded a miserable 1-7 road trip when Akron edged them 7-6 in 11 innings at Canal Park. The Aeros scored the winning run when Rondon walked Jordan Henry and Roberto Perez, balked Henry to third and then surrendered Davis Stoneburner’s game-winning single.

Erie (46-58) returns to Jerry Uht Park on a seven-game losing streak. The SeaWolves haven’t won since last Friday, when they started their road trip with a 3-0 shutout at Altoona.

Akron upped the Eastern League’s best record to 63-41.

– Mike Copper

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The Erie SeaWolves continue to plummet in the Eastern League’s Western Division standings.

Altoona completed back-to-back doubleheader sweeps of Erie with Sunday night’s 11-2 and 2-1 victories at Peoples Natural Gas Field.

The SeaWolves’ four straight losses left them a season-worst 46-55 going into a three-game series against the Western Division-leading Akron Aeros. The Curve’s doubleheader sweeps left them 49-51.

– Mike Copper

This is one seven that’s unlucky for the Erie SeaWolves.

That’s the number of games they’re now under .500 after Altoona swept them 5-1 and 1-0 in Saturday night’s Eastern League doubleheader at Peoples Natural Gas Field.

Erie’s 46-53 record is its worst this season. Altoona is slightly better at 47-51 in the league’s Western Division.

– Mike Copper

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The Erie SeaWolves endured two rain delays Friday night, but were still able to blank the Altoona Curve at Peoples Natural Gas Field.

Erie starter James Avery outdueled Curve counterpart Gerrit Cole, the No. 1 overall pick in the 2011 amateur draft, to become the Eastern League’s second 10-game winner. Avery and two relievers combined on a seven-inning 3-0 victory.

The second game of Friday’s originally scheduled doubleheader was called off because of the weather. The teams must now play twice Saturday and Sunday.

Saturday’s opener will start at 6 p.m. and Sunday’s at 5 p.m. Erie goes into them with a 46-51 record.

Avery joined Trenton’s Brett Marshall as the league’s only 10-game winners. He pitched Friday’s first five innings, allowed four hits, walked two and struck out five.

– Mike Copper

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The Erie SeaWolves and Altoona Curve will now play two doubleheaders at Peoples Natural Gas Field.

The second one will take place Sunday, with the first game scheduled for 5 p.m. That doubleheader was necessitated when Thursday’s five-game series opener was postponed by rain.

The first one was originally scheduled for Friday at 6 p.m. The Eastern League arranged those seven-inning contests because it didn’t play Easter Sunday, the day after the SeaWolves and Curve completed their season-opening series at Altoona.

The doubleheaders will sandwich Saturday’s single nine-inning game, with a first pitch scheduled for 7 p.m.

– Mike Copper

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