Power surge pushes Richmond Flying Squirrels past Yard Goats

Home runs by outfielder Chris Shaw and infielder Ryan Howard and five scoreless innings from right-hander Brandon Beachy propelled the Richmond Flying Squirrels to a 5-1 win over the Hartford Yard Goats on Monday night at Dunkin’ Donuts Park.

Shaw went deep in the second inning against Hartford (4-8) left-hander Jack Wynkoop (Loss, 0-3). On a 1-0 pitch, Shaw blasted Wynkoop’s offering over the right-center field fence and out of the ballpark for his second home run of the season, and his second homer in as many days.

Richmond (6-3) extended its lead in the next inning. After Levi Michael doubled, Hamlet Marte sent a single up the middle for his first hit of the season to drive in Michael and make it a 2-0 game.

Meanwhile, Beachy (Win, 1-1) kept the Yard Goats off the bases, allowing one hit, walking one and striking out four across five scoreless innings. The five innings mark the longest start for the right-hander since August 14, 2015, and the victory is Beachy’s first since July 1, 2015.

Howard joined the home run club in the sixth, shooting a line-drive shot over the left-field fence to put the Flying Squirrels in front 3-0. After not homering through the first seven games of the season, Richmond has combined for four home runs over the last two games.

Shaw followed Howard’s long ball with a booming triple to centerfield, later scoring on an RBI single from Brock Stassi to extend the lead to 4-0.

Two innings later, Shaw singled and Health Quinn reached on an error to put runners on first and second with one out for Stassi. He delivered his second RBI single of the game to plate Shaw and widen the Richmond advantage to 5-0 after eight innings.

Shaw finished the game a double shy of the cycle, going 3-for-3 with a home run, triple and three runs scored.

Hartford plated its lone run of the game in the ninth. With runners on first and third and one out, right-hander Connor Overton threw a wild pitch, allowing Tyler Nevin to score and ending Richmond’s bid at a shutout.

In his Flying Squirrels debut, right-hander Yoanys Quiala pitched three innings and allowed one run on two hits with three walks and four strikeouts.

The Flying Squirrels continue their series against the Yard Goats on Tuesday at 7:05 p.m., when right-hander Alfred Gutierrez toes the rubber for Richmond against Hartford right-hander Brandon Gold. Coverage begins on Sports Radio 910 the Fan with the Flying Squirrels Pregame Warmup presented by Air Force Reserve at 6:35 p.m.

The Flying Squirrels return to The Diamond on Thursday to begin a six-game homestand. For tickets or more information, call 804-359-3866 (FUNN), visit SquirrelsBaseball.com/Tickets or stop by the Flying Squirrels box office.