The Trenton Thunder (40-34) blanked the Richmond Flying Squirrels (38-34) for the second straight ballgame, 4-0, at The Diamond on Friday night. With the win, the Thunder took the series, having claimed three of the four games. It marked just the second series the Squirrels have lost in their last 15. The Squirrels have been shutout for 14 consecutive innings.
The Thunder grabbed the lead first in the top of the third inning off of lefty Kelvin Marte. Jose Rosario sparked the inning with a leadoff single to left field. An out later, Eddy Rodriguez floated a hit-and-run single to right field to put runners on the corners. Marte fanned Jake Cave for the second out, but Cito Culver gave the Thunder a 1-0 lead with a single chopped back through the middle.
Trenton tacked on an additional run against Marte in the fifth. Rodriguez got things started with a one-out single. He was forced by Jake Cave, who moved to second on a single from Culver. Greg Bird then made it 2-0 with an RBI single.
Marte (6-1) retired during the sixth inning, charged with two earned runs on nine hits. He walked two, struck out three and was saddled with his first loss of the season.
Meanwhile, lefty Caleb Smith (5-4) was cruising. He turned in six snappy and scoreless innings on just four hits. He walked two, struck out four and claimed his fifth victory of the year.
The Thunder added an unearned against lefty Braulio Lara in the eighth inning. Lara balked Rosario, who had singled, to second base. Rosario scored from there when Myles Schroder misplayed a ground ball from Rodriguez. They capped the scoring with another unearned run against righty Derek Law in the ninth.
Right-hander Cesar Vargas worked 1 2/3 innings behind Smith, and fellow right-hander Mark Montgomery recorded the final out in the eighth. Montgomery also worked a scoreless ninth to earn his eighth save of the season.
The Squirrels hit the road for a seven-day, seven-game road trip, which begins with a three-game set against the New Britain Rock Cats (Colorado Rockies) in New Britain, CT. The opener is scheduled for 7:05 p.m. on Saturday night at New Britain Stadium. Richmond LHP Matt Lujan (5-5, 4.52) will make the start against New Britain RHP Shane Carle (8-4, 3.44). The Flying Squirrels Pregame Warmup will begin at 6:35 p.m. on Fox Sports 910 and FoxSportsRichmond.com.
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Chris Graham
