The Binghamton Mets (69-47) continued their domination of the Richmond Flying Squirrels (66-51) with a, 5-1, win at The Diamond on Wednesday night.
Binghamton sent the Squirrels to their seventh straight loss and also improved to 5-0 against Richmond this season. Akron won on Wednesday, cutting the Squirrels’ lead in the Western Division to 3 ½ games. However, Bowie lost, keeping the Squirrels inside playoff position by nine games.
Richmond right-hander Chris Stratton recorded the first two outs of the first inning, but the third man to the plate gave Binghamton a quick lead. Brian Burgamy lifted an opposite-field solo-home run to left field. His second home run of the series, and 21st of the season, gave the B-Mets a quick 1-0 lead. Stratton then walked Dustin Lawley and conceded a single to Darrell Cecilliani. With runners at the corners, Cecilliani broke for second base. Catcher Tyler LaTorre threw wildly into centerfield, allowing Lawley to score. T.J. Rivera then capped the inning with a single up the first-base line. Cecilliani scored for a 3-0 lead.
Stratton (0-1) labored through three innings and called it a night after 80 pitches. He was charged with three earned runs on four hits. He established a new career-high with six walks, struck out one and endured his first Double-A loss.
Right-hander Edwin Quirarte followed with two scoreless innings. However, he was stretched to a third inning where he found trouble. He issued a two-out walk to Burgamy before Lawley drilled a two-run home run to left field for a 5-0 lead. Quirarte walked three during his 2 2/3 innings bringing the Richmond tally to nine for the night.
Meanwhile, right-hander Greg Peavey (9-2) was dealing. He earned the win by blanking the Squirrels for 6 2/3 innings. He allowed just three hits, walked two and struck out four. He earned his second victory of the year over the Squirrels and ninth overall.
The B-Mets used the trio of Chase Huchingson, Jon Velasquez and Cody Satterwhite to take it the rest of the way. Richmond scratched a run across off Satterwhite in the ninth inning to avoid being shutout and cap the scoring. Myles Schroder knocked in that run with a single to right field.
The finale of the three-game series is schedule for 7:05 p.m. at The Diamond on Thursday night. Richmond LHP Ty Blach (7-6, 3.46) will make the start against Binghamton RHP Matt Bowman (7-6, 3.1). The Flying Squirrels Pregame Warmup begins at 6:35 p.m. on Sports Radio 910 and SportsRadio910.com.