The Richmond Flying Squirrels completed their first shutout of the season, a 1-0 win over the Bowie Baysox to extend their winning streak to five games on Tuesday night at The Diamond. Right-hander Shaun Anderson delivered six quality innings to earn the win in his Diamond debut. Richmond (9-3) is off to their best start in franchise history and will continue the homestand on Wednesday night at 6:35 p.m. against Bowie (6-5).
Through the early April chill, Flying Squirrels righty Shaun Anderson and Bowie lefty John Means kept the game moving with stellar starts. Anderson set the tone by striking out a pair to bookend the first inning. Anderson used just 13 pitches in the first while Means needed only eight to set Richmond down 1-2-3 in the bottom of the first.
Means only flaw for Bowie occurred in the second inning. Jerry Sands smashed a one-out base hit to third and stole second base. With two outs, Ali Castillo looped a single into centerfield, scoring Sands for a 1-0 lead.
Anderson was able to elude trouble with a pair of runners thrown out at the plate during his outing. Ademar Rifaela singled to begin the second inning and advanced to third base as Aderlin Rodriguez roped a double to left. The next hitter, Mike Yastrzemski grounded a ball to first baseman Jerry Sands. Rifaela broke from third towards home and Sands threw him out at the plate to keep Bowie off the board.
The Baysox had another runner cutdown at the plate in the sixth. With Cedric Mullins in first , Corban Joseph slammed a double against the right field wall. Mullins attempted to score from first and was thrown out on a 9-4-2 relay from Miguel Gomez to Ronnie Freeman.
Means, meanwhile, continued to keep Richmond off balance through six innings of work in the loss. The lefty allowed just the one run on four hits. He walked one and struck out six. Ryan Meisinger tossed the final two innings for Bowie.
Anderson lasted six innings and left to start the seventh with a 1-0 lead. The righty from Florida tossed 86 pitches and allowed four hits, with one walk and four strikeouts in the win.
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Mike Connolly entered to relieve Anderson and retired the first six batters he faced. Connolly started the ninth inning, but walked the leadoff man to trigger Caleb Simpson from the ‘pen. Simpson loaded the bases and with two outs, struck out Yastrzemski to end the game and collect his third save of the year.
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Chris Graham
