Richmond drops seventh straight, remains winless on road trip

The Richmond Flying Squirrels (42-53) dropped their seventh straight ballgame, falling to the Binghamton Mets (59-34), 7-3, on Monday night at NYSEG Stadium.  The loss extends the Squirrels’ losing streak to seven games, which matches the franchise record they established earlier this season.  Richmond also fell to 8-27 over their last 35 ballgames.

The B-Mets started quickly against Richmond righty Taylor Rogers.  Rogers hit Justin Turner with one out to give the B-Mets a base runner.  A batter later, Allan Dykstra crunched his 16^th home run of the season.  The two-run shot to right-center field gave Binghamton an early 2-0 lead.

Jarrett Parker answered for the Squirrels in the top of the second.  He cranked a solo-home run to right-center field to but the Binghamton lead in half, 2-1.  The home run was Parker’s 12^th of the season but first since June 2^nd against Erie.

Binghamton broke the game open in the second inning as a spark led to a wildfire.  Alonzo Harris reached on an infield-single with one out.  Rogers recorded the second out but Darrell Cecilliani punched a single through the hole on the right-side of the infield.  Turner followed the same path with an RBI single to plate Harris.  Josh Rodriguez then drilled a two-run double through the alley in right-center field.  Adding insult to injury, Dykstra rolled a routine ground ball to second base that Mark Minicozzi misplayed allowing an additional run to score.  After two innings, the Squirrels trailed 6-1.

Rogers settled in nicely and faced the minimum from the third through the sixth inning.  However, the B-Mets got one more run off him before he called it a night.  Darrell Cecelliani and Turner chipped in back-to-back one-out singles to force Rogers from the ballgame.  Lefty Ryan Bradley entered and issued back-to-back walks to force in a run.  The run was charged to Rogers as the B-Mets took a 7-1 lead.

Rogers (5-6) was tagged with the loss over 6 2/3 innings.  He was charged with seven runs – six earned – on six hits.  He walked two and struck out four in his sixth loss of the year.

Verrett was dominant after Parker’s home run, and had retired 11 in a row when he conceded a two-out single to Brett Krill in the eighth inning.  Verrett then walked Javier Herrera to put two aboard.  Joe Panik knocked them both in with a double off the right-field wall.  It was Panik’s second double of the ballgame and capped the scoring for the night, 7-3.

Verrett (9-4) finished the eighth and earned the win.  He allowed three earned runs on five hits.  He walked just one and struck out nine.  Right-hander Chasen Bradford came on and finished off the Squirrels with a perfect ninth inning.

Game two of the three-game series is scheduled for 6:35 p.m. on Tuesday night at NYSEG Stadium. Richmond LHP Chris Gloor (6-3, 3.50) will make the start.  The B-Mets have yet to name a starter for game two of the series.  The Flying Squirrels Pregame Warmup will begin at 6:05 p.m. on Sports Radio 910, SportsRadio910.com and IHeart Radio.