The Bowie Baysox (11-15) stunned the Richmond Flying Squirrels (12-14) in the ninth inning at The Diamond on Wednesday night, rallying for four runs to snare a, 5-3, victory in game three of a four-game series. It was the first time in 11 chances that the Squirrels had failed to win after leading following eight innings.
The uprising occurred against Richmond closer Daryl Maday, who came on to start the ninth inning with the Squirrels in front, 3-1. L.J. Hoes greeted him with a single and Maday followed with a walk to Brandon Waring. Manny Machado bunted the runners up, and Maday walked Robbie Widlansky to load the bases. Ronnie Welty then delivered the game-winner, cracking a bases-clearing double through the alley in right-center field. Travis Adair then capped the rally with an RBI single to left field that plated Welty. Maday (2-2) was saddled with the loss for the Squirrels, charged with all four runs in the inning.
The Squirrels had grabbed an early advantage when they plated a pair of runs off of Bowie right-hander Tim Bascom in the second inning. Chris Dominguez got the Squirrels started with a single into left field. Juan Perez followed with a single to right-center field. Dominguez aggressively took third base on the play, and on an attempted throw to third, Perez scooted into second base. A batter later, Daniel Mayora gave Richmond the first lead of the night with a sacrifice-fly to center field. Wendell Fairley completed the uprising, when he laced a single into left-center field that brought in Perez for a 2-0 lead.
Tommy Joseph got the Squirrels started again in the third as they tacked a run onto their lead against Bascom. Joseph cranked an opposite-field double off the wall in right field on one hop. Johnny Monell singled Joseph to third, and Mayora made it 3-0 with a sacrifice-fly to center field.
Richmond right-hander Justin Fitzgerald held off the Baysox through the first four frames, but they were able to break through in the fifth. Ronnie Welty led off with a ground-rule double to right field and advanced to third base on a groundout. He scored to trim the Richmond lead to two runs on a wild pitch from Fitzgerald.
Bowie threatened again in the sixth inning, placing runners on the corners with one out. Dave Machemer opted to go the bullpen, ending Fitzgerald’s night after 5 1/3 innings. Right-hander Brett Bochy came on and induced an inning-ending double play ball from Machado to keep the Squirrels in front, 3-1.
Bochy was magnificent in relief, working two additional innings through the eighth. He retired all seven batters that he faced, striking out four. Bochy fanned the side in order in the seventh.
Fitzgerald was again denied a victory in a game he departed with the lead. It marked the second consecutive start for Fitzgerald in which the opposition had rallied from a two-run deficit in the ninth inning. Bascom settled in after early trouble and ultimately worked six innings to a no-decision. Bascom and two relievers combined to retire 19 of the final 20 Squirrels batters.
Right-hander Greg Burke worked the ninth inning to earn his second consecutive save in the series. Right-hander Kyler Newby (1-0) worked two innings of scoreless relief and earned his first Eastern League victory.
The Squirrels complete their four-game series with the Bowie Baysox (Baltimore Orioles) at The Diamond on Thursday night at 6:35 PM. Richmond RHP Craig Westcott (0-2, 6.43) will oppose Bowie RHP Bobby Bundy (1-3, 5.31). Tickets are available and can be purchased at SquirrelsBaseball.com.
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Chris Graham
