Bowie Baysox make it two in a row over Richmond

The Baysox (65-49) utilized a five-run sixth inning to break through against Squirrels starting pitcher Matt Gage in a 5-1 win over Richmond (58-57) on Tuesday night at Prince George’s Stadium. Gage was sharp through five innings but sputtered in the sixth against a prominent Baysox offense. The Squirrels have dropped the first two games of the series and are 1-4 on the current seven game road trip.

Offense was hard to discover early for Richmond. The first opportunity occurred in the top of the fifth inning when Devin Harris led off and was plunked in the leg with no outs. Engel Beltre then attempted to bunt Harris over but was ruled out of the box while making contact with the baseball for an out. Devin Harris advanced over to third base after some productive outs, but was stranded there after Jackson Williams sharply bounced out to second base.

Myles Schroder kicked off the sixth inning with a groundball single to the outfield. Rando Moreno attempted to execute a sacrifice bunt and came up empty. The Squirrels cracked the scoreboard first thanks to Austin Slater who belted a double of the center field fall. Schroder tumbled across the plated on that play just ahead of the throw and Richmond took 1-0 lead.

Bowie responded immediately in the bottom of the sixth. The Baysox poured five runs on the scoreboard along with five hits in this frame. Brandon Snyder and Quincy Latimore delivered with two RBI singles. This prompted a pitching change for Richmond as Braulio Lara took over in a bases loaded situation. Mike Yastremski promptly smashed a groundball through the right side to scored two runs. All three inherited runners scored and the Baysox held a 5-1 advantage after six innings.

LHP Matt Gage (2-2) made his fifth Double-A start for Richmond and breezed through the difficult Bowie lineup and retired the side in order in the first three innings. He finally let up his first hit, which was a double to left center field in the bottom of the fourth to Trey Mancini. This first pressure situation did not faze Gage as he recorded his sixth strikeout to escape the fourth frame. The left-hander finished with eight strikeouts, a Double-A season-high. He lasted 5.1 innings and allowed the five runs on five hits in the loss.

Bowie starting pitcher Chris Lee (2-0) maneuvered through six innings and surrendered one run on four hits in the win. The Baysox bullpen of Jon Keller, Ashur Toliver and Andrew Triggs did not allow a run to preserve the Bowie win.

The Squirrels continue their seven game road trip on Wednesday with game three of a four game in Bowie, MD. LHP Matt Lujan (6-5, 3.83) will start for the Squirrels against Bowie RHP Gene Escat (1-3, 2.84). First pitch is set for 7:05 PM with the Flying Squirrels Pregame Warmup starting at 6:35 PM on Fox Sports 910 and FoxSportsRichmond.com.

– Source: Richmond Flying Squirrels