Lefthanders Andrew Suarez and Jordan Montgomery started strong in Saturday night’s game at ARM & HAMMER Park.
The weather was perfect for the third game of the long weekend series after the Flying Squirrels and Thunder split the first two encounters. In the end, Richmond (30-51) left a season-high 13 runners on base, and the Thunder (52-30) used a three-run fifth inning to get by with a 5-2 win before a crowd of 5,202.
After capitalizing on five Thunder errors on Friday night, the Squirrels started to see traces of the same thing with the All-Star Montgomery on the hill. In the second, Hunter Cole’s bouncer to short ricocheted off Tyler Wade for the first error. A walk to Ryder Jones and a single by Brandon Bednar loaded the bases with just one out as the Squirrels looked to take the lead in the second for the third straight night. However, Montgomery settled down and got the next two hitters to keep the game scoreless.
In the third, Montgomery’s second walk put Christian Arroyo at first. Later, with two outs, a bouncer from Chris Shaw ate up second baseman Jose Rosario for the second Thunder error. Cole had a chance with runners at the corners, but another grounder to Rosario was handled to end the inning. Another opportunity arose for the Squirrels in the fourth when Ryder Jones’ routine grounder to short resulted in a throwing error from Wade. Steve Lerud was hit by a pitch with one out, yet once again, the Squirrels stranded a pair and couldn’t score.
Trenton finally broke through against Suarez in the third after the lefthander had retired seven straight, including two strikeouts. Wade redeemed himself with a sinking line drive that got beyond the tumbling center fielder Steven Duggar for a two-out triple. Dustin Fowler then added his second hit with an infield single up the grass at first, forcing Suarez to come off the mound and send the throw into right field for a 1-0 Thunder lead.
They’d pile it on in the fifth after Suarez (2-6) struck out the side in the home fourth. Number nine hitter Dan Fiorito stroked a one out single, and Wade followed with his second base hit. Fowler stayed hot with his third straight single that slipped by Cole in right field, and the runners all advanced to put the Thunder ahead 2-0. Miguel Andujar lifted a sacrifice fly into left for a 3-0 lead, and Kyle Higashioka bashed the first pitch into left for an RBI single and a 4-0 advantage.
Another prime opportunity popped up for the Squirrels in the fifth when Arroyo and C.J. Hinojosa opened the inning with singles off Montgomery (7-3). The lefthander then got the next three hitters no problem, and departed after five-and-a-third scoreless innings in which he allowed just four hits.
J.R. Graham covered the next two innings for Thunder manager Bobby Mitchell, but not before he hit a speed bump in the seventh. Hinojosa worked a one out walk after his first Double-A hit the last time up, and Shaw mashed a single into right field. Another walk to Cole loaded the bases and brought up the tying run, but that took a small hit when Jones took a called third strike. Bednar attacked the first pitch and slashed a two-run double that hopped over the first base bag, giving the second baseman three of the Squirrels six hits. At 4-2, Lerud had a chance with the tying runs in scoring position, but Graham set him down for the final out.
Trenton tacked on one more run in the bottom of the eighth when Mark Payton’s third hit was a double off Jose Casilla to score Higashioka, who got to second on a single and a passed ball. Thunder closer Jonathan Holder, who secured the last two outs in the eighth, coasted through the ninth for a five-out save and a 5-2 Thunder win to move a game up in the series.
The series concludes on Sunday night at 7:00 when Dan Slania (6-5, 3.44 ERA) goes up against Vicente Campos (3-0, 3.19 ERA). After this weekend series, the Squirrels will return home on Monday for their annual 4th of July Fireworks Extravaganza to kick off a seven-game homestand. The full promotional schedule can be found here. Season tickets, mini plans, and group packages are currently available by contacting the box office at 804-359-FUNN or online at www.squirrelsbaseball.com.
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