The Richmond Flying Squirrels (59-57) exploded with 13 hits to take down the Bowie Baysox (66-50) 9-1 on Wednesday night at Prince George’s Stadium. Devin Harris led the offensive attack with a pair of hits and three runs batted in, including a two-run double in the fifth inning. Lefty Matt Lujan returned from the disabled list to make the start and pitched well in his first outing since July 9thagainst Harrisburg. The Squirrels will attempt to split the four game series that concludes on Thursday in Bowie with Tyler Beede on the mound.
Richmond opened up an early lead on Bowie in the top of the first inning. With Rando Moreno at first base after a walk, Austin Slater drilled a ball into the ground towards second base and the infielder, Derrik Gibson, misplayed a high hop. The ball nipped off of his glove and everyone was safe. Ricky Oropesa delivered an RBI fielder’s choice with a groundball to the shortstop to score Moreno. Devin Harris then blistered a line drive to left field to plate Slater and take a 2-0 lead..
The same formula translated into more of the same for the Squirrels in the second inning. Austin Slater hit a sharp bouncing ball again to second base and that plated Jesus Galindo for a 3-0 advantage. Slater had two hits and has now documented 15 multi-hit games with Richmond. Ricky Oropesa was called out on strikes to strand the bases loaded. LHP Matt Lujan came back from the disabled list (shin contusion) and made his first start for Richmond since July 9. The southpaw lasted 3.2 innings in a pitch limit outing (64 pitches) and only surrendered two hits and no runs.
Richmond put the game out of reach with a four-run fifth inning. Harris smacked a double down the third base line and that scored Mitch Delfino and Ricky Oropesa, both who reached on walks form reliever Marcel Prado. Richmond drew eight walks in the game and Delfino had four of them. The lead was pushed to 6-0 as Jesus Galindo recorded a productive grounder to plate Harris. Myles Schroder capped off the four-run frame with a hard-hit ball through the right side and that scored Jackson Williams. After five innings, RVA led Bowie 8-0.
The bullpen stepped up to preserve this comfortable advantage. RHP Stephen Johnson (3-0) earned the win with 2.1 innings of work. Johnson allowed one run on two hits with four strikeouts. Kyle Crick, Pedro Rodriguez and Tyler Mizenko were also steady in relief with an inning of work each and in total did not allow a hit.
The Squirrels conclude their seven game road trip on Thursday with the finale of the four-game series in Bowie, MD. RHP Tyler Beede (2-6, 4.91) will start for the Squirrels against Bowie RHP Joe Gunkel (8-3, 2.89). 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.
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Chris Graham
