Trailing 6-0 entering the bottom of the ninth inning, the Flying Squirrels surged for five runs against the Trenton bullpen, but fell short 6-5 on Saturday night in front of 8,878 fans at The Diamond.
Richmond (21-33) had been held to just one hit through the first eight innings prior to coming alive in the ninth. Left-hander Andrew Suarez was sharp for Richmond, lasting seven innings and allowing just two runs in the loss. The Squirrels and Thunder will conclude the brief three game series on Sunday afternoon with Brunch & Baseball at 12:05 p.m. For tickets and promotional details please visit here.
The Flying Squirrels emerged from their offensive slumber in the bottom of the ninth inning. Facing Trenton lefty Caleb Frare, Eliezer Zambrano doubled to open things up. Frare walked the next two batters to load the bases and Trenton then opted to bring in closer Cale Coshow to face Miguel Gomez. Gomez grounded in the first run of the game on a bouncer to second. Newcomer Jerry Sands followed with booming double to the gap to make it a 6-2 contest. Things got even hairier for Trenton when C.J. Hinojosa ripped a double to right center field, scoring two more runs to pull the Squirrels to within two, 6-4. The Hinojosa double forced Trenton to go back to the bullpen and bring in Colten Brewer to face Ryan Lollis. Lollis smashed a hard ground ball to short and the ball kicked off the foot of Thairo Estrada and rolled into shallow left center field. Hinojosa scored on the play, placing the tying run on first base. Brandon Bednar added a single but Brewer was finally able to secure the last out to save the game for Trenton.
The middle game of the series on Saturday initially emerged as a pitcher’s duel between Lefty Andrew Suarez and Trenton right-hander Ronald Hererra. Both hurlers finished with quality starts, with Herrera besting Suarez to earn his sixth win of the season.
Trenton opened up the scoring by plating a pair of runs in the second inning. Billy Fleming singled into center field to start things up. Rashad Crawford then roped a double into the corner in right field and Abiatal Avelino brought home both runners with a double out to left for a 2-0 lead.
The two runs would be the only runs allowed by Suarez on the night. The lefty recovered after the two runs in the second and cruised through seven innings. Suarez retired the side in order in the third and worked around a two-out single in the fourth. Trenton put a pair of runners on in the sixth until a rundown with a runner caught off of third base ended the threat.
Unfortunately for Richmond, Herrera was nearly untouchable in his seventh start of the year. The Yankees 40-man roster member did not allow a runner until C.J. Hinojosa worked a walk in the firth inning. Hererra kept the Squirrels to just one hit – a double from Myles Schroder to start the seventh – over seven innings of work. The righty struck out six and walked one over 80 pitches to earn the win.
Suarez (3-4) suffered the loss despite tossing seven solid innings. Suarez spread out eight hits over the seven frames and walked only one bater. He struck out five and used 97 pitches in the outing.
Relievers Ryan Halstead and Yordy Cabrera both made their Double-A debuts for the Flying Squirrels by working the eighth and ninth innings, respectively. Halstead yielded three runs on three hits while Cabrera allowed a run on three hits .
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