Five wins in a row for Richmond: Squirrels drop Baysox, 4-2

The Richmond Flying Squirrels (8-17) rode six scoreless innings from right-hander Joe Biagini to a, 4-2, triumph over the Bowie Baysox (17-11) in front of a capacity-crowd (9,560) at The Diamond on Friday night.  The Squirrels snapped a six-game win-streak for Bowie, while extending their own win-streak to a season-high five games.

The Squirrels got started offensively in the third against right-hander Parker Bridwell.  Jackson Williams sparked the inning with a one-out single sprayed to right field.  Kelby Tomlinson followed and yanked a double off the wall in the left-field corner.  Williams scored for a 1-0 lead.  Javier Herrera followed and pulled a single into left field.  That plated Tomlinson for a 2-0 advantage.

Richmond tacked two runs onto their lead off Bridwell in the sixth inning.  With one out, Herrera looped a triple just fair inside the right-field line.  An out later, Mitch Delfino lined a crisp single to centerfield to plate Herrera for a 3-0 advantage.  Ricky Oropesa followed and singled to right-center field.  Delfino scored and the Squirrels led, 4-0.

Meanwhile, Biagini (1-2) was spectacular over six innings.  He blanked the Baysox on just two hits – both singles.  He walked two and struck out three, earning his first win at the Double-A level.

Bowie got on the board for the first time against right-hander Stephen Johnson in the seventh.  With one out, Brandon Snyder clubbed a double to left-center field.  Chris O’Brien followed and lifted an opposite-field two-run home run to left field.  His fifth of the year cut Richmond’s lead in half, 4-2.

Bridwell (1-1) lasted seven innings and was charged with four earned runs on eight hits.  He walked none and struck out eight.  Despite taking the loss, he has now struck out 23 Squirrels over three starts on the season.

Right-hander Joan Gregorio worked a perfect eighth inning, and lefty Josh Osich earned his fourth save of the season with a scoreless ninth inning.

Game two of the three-game series is scheduled for 7:05 p.m. at The Diamond on Saturday night.  Richmond LHP Kelvin Marte (1-0, 1.62) will make the start against Bowie RHP Branden Kline (3-1, 3.46).  The Flying Squirrels Pregame Warmup will begin at 6:35 p.m. on Fox Sports 910 and FoxSportsRichmond.com.