Home Richmond Flying Squirrels close out regular season with 1-0 shutout of Erie SeaWolves
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Richmond Flying Squirrels close out regular season with 1-0 shutout of Erie SeaWolves

Chris Graham

richmond flying squirrels A strong pitching performance propelled the Richmond Flying Squirrels to a 1-0 shutout win over the Erie SeaWolves in the final game of the 2023 regular season on Sunday afternoon at UPMC Park.

The Flying Squirrels (74-64, 41-28), the Double-A affiliate of the San Francisco Giants, picked up a series win against the SeaWolves (75-62, 38-31), the Double-A affiliate of the Detroit Tigers, with the victory and ended the regular season winning four-of-the-final-five series.

Scoreless in the top of the seventh, Erie reliever Trevin Michael (Loss, 0-1) issued a double and two walks to load the bases. Will Wilson worked a five-pitch walk to bring home Carter Aldrete from third to move Richmond ahead, 1-0.

Blake Rivera stranded two baserunners in the bottom of the seventh and posted two strikeouts. Evan Gates (Save, 6) issued a pair of walks in the eighth inning but stranded both runners.

Erie notched a leadoff single in the bottom of the ninth, but Gates responded with a strikeout and two flyouts to secure the victory.

Over four innings, Richmond starter Wil Jensen held the SeaWolves to one baserunner and struck out two. After allowing a single in the first inning, Jensen retired 11 batters in a row to conclude his regular season.

Reliever Hunter Dula (Win, 1-0) followed with a scoreless sixth and seventh inning with a strikeout and a pickoff.

Erie starter Jackson Jobe gave up four hits over six scoreless innings and totaled six strikeouts in his Double-A debut.

Game 1 of the best-of-three Southwest Division Series will be played on Tuesday as the Flying Squirrels host the SeaWolves at The Diamond. First pitch is scheduled for 6:35 p.m.

Tickets for the Flying Squirrels’ home playoff games are available online at SquirrelsBaseball.com/Tickets, by phone at 804-359-FUNN (3866) or in person at the Flying Squirrels ticket office. In the event that any Championship Series games are not played, fans who purchase tickets will receive a credit which can be used for tickets to a Flying Squirrels home game in 2024.

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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. For his commentaries on news, sports and politics, go to his YouTube page, TikTok, BlueSky, or subscribe to Substack or his Street Knowledge podcast. Email Chris at [email protected].