No doubt there were a few sighs of relief Monday around Canal Park before the Aeros kicked off their longest home stand of the season against Bowie.

Despite a tough weekend in Erie where the Aeros dropped two of three games and the pitching staff gave up 37 hits and 22 runs, a peek at the Eastern League standings revealed the hurlers remained in second place with a respectable 3.14 ERA.

And luckily, there was some wiggle room with Akron's South Division lead at six games over trailing Altoona.

But with the season beginning to wind down, the prevailing opinion was that it was time to get back on track after posting a mediocre 5-5 mark during the past 10 games.

A 7-5 Bowie victory Monday night squashed that idea. Not even an eighth-inning rally highlighted by Joe Inglett's three-run triple could dig them out of an early hole.

Earlier, Derrick Van Dusen tried to help steady the team in search of his ninth victory. But the left-hander didn't have his best stuff and lasted just five innings in taking the loss.

``We've been working with him on using his slider more, especially in attacking left-handed hitters,'' said Aeros pitching coach Steve Lyons, who was ejected after arguing with home plate umpire Brent Rice in the ninth inning. ``But it's still coming along. It's the finishing piece for him.''

Despite struggling with the slider and walking perilously close to disaster in loading the bases twice, Van Dusen did one heck of a Houdini job in getting out of trouble with limited damage.

Kurt Arioso put the Baysox on the board in the second with a two-run home run to right field, but Van Dusen managed to tip-toe out of an ensuing bases-loaded jam to prevent any further trouble.

In the fifth, he faced another sticky bases loaded situation with just one out. But again, Van Dusen escaped after allowing only an Arioso RBI single that gave Bowie a 3-0 advantage.

Kazuhito Tadano briefly quieted the Baysox in the sixth, and Ryan Church sparked the offense in the bottom of the inning with a two-run double that gave Akron life.

But Bowie came right back against Tadano, promptly regrouping the runs on a two-run double by Kris Wilken before Inglett's clutch hit pulled the Aeros within a run.