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Richmond drops opener at Hartford, 4-3

Chris Graham

richmond flying squirrels Hayden Birdsong worked four hitless innings but the Richmond Flying Squirrels were walked off by the Hartford Yard Goats, 4-3, on Tuesday night at Dunkin’ Park.

The Flying Squirrels (61-60, 28-24), the Double-A affiliate of the San Francisco Giants, held a three-run advantage through five innings but allowed four straight runs in their loss to the Yard Goats (51-66, 22-28), the Double-A affiliate of the Colorado Rockies.

After a leadoff walk and a hit-by-pitch by Ben Madison (Loss, 2-1) in the bottom of the ninth, a sacrifice bunt moved two Yard Goats runners into scoring position. Adael Amador lifted a sacrifice fly to center field and evened the score, 3-3.

Evan Gates replaced Madison in the inning and Jordan Beck lined an RBI single to left field to give Hartford a 4-3 walk-off victory.

With two outs and runner at second base, Brady Whalen rocketed a groundball single and scored Shane Matheny to push Richmond ahead, 1-0.

Jimmy Glowenke blasted a two-run homer in the fourth inning to extend the Flying Squirrels’ lead to 3-0. It was Glowenke’s seventh home run of the season and his third homer over the road trip.

Birdsong cruised through four hitless innings with four strikeouts and allowed one baserunner on a walk. It was Birdsong’s longest Double-A outing and his second shutout start.

The Yard Goats broke the shutout in the bottom of the sixth when Adael Amador launched a solo home run to right field and cut the deficit to 3-1.

Braxton Fulford made it a one-run game in the bottom of the eighth with a solo home run against Wil Jensen. Later in the frame, Ben Madison issued two-out walk to load the bases but fired a looking strikeout to hold the Richmond lead at 3-2.

The Flying Squirrels continue the series against the Yard Goats Wednesday night at 7:10 p.m. Right-hander Ryan Murphy (1-8, 4.57) will start for Richmond opposed by Hartford left-hander Mike Ruff (1-10, 5.19).

Chris Graham

Chris Graham

Chris Graham is the founder and editor of Augusta Free Press. A 1994 alum of the University of Virginia, Chris is the author and co-author of seven books, including Poverty of Imagination, a memoir published in 2019, and Team of Destiny: Inside Virginia Basketball’s Run to the 2019 National Championship, and The Worst Wrestling Pay-Per-View Ever, published in 2018. For his commentaries on news, sports and politics, go to his YouTube page, or subscribe to his Street Knowledge podcast. Email Chris at [email protected].