Ryan Howard bounced a walk-off single up the middle in the 10th inning to give the Richmond Flying Squirrels a walk-off win, 1-0, over the Harrisburg Senators on Saturday in front of 9,339 fans at The Diamond.
It was the third-largest crowd at The Diamond this season and the fourth walk-off win of the year for Richmond (45-78, 22-34).
With the game tied, 0-0, in the bottom of the 10th inning, Howard sent the first pitch from Aaron Barrett (Loss, 0-2) past David Masters at shortstop and into center field to bring in Peter Maris and end the game. Maris started the inning at second base as the placed runner before advancing to third on a sacrifice bunt by Jalen Miller.
Garrett Williams (Win, 6-8) kept Harrisburg (65-57, 23-29) in the top of the 10th inning, picking up two strikeouts to strand the potential go-ahead run on base.
Caleb Baragar struck out eight batters across seven scoreless innings, allowing three hits and walking two batters. It was Baragar’s second consecutive start of at least seven innings pitched and zero earned runs allowed.
Mario Sanchez needed just 66 pitches to throw seven shutout innings for the Senators, yielding one hit while striking out four. He retired the final 18 batters he faced.
The Flying Squirrels had a chance to break the scoreless tie in the eighth against reliever Greg Holland. Miller singled and reached third base with one out, but was thrown out at home trying to score on a grounder to third base.
Tyler Cyr thwarted an opportunity for the Senators to score in the top of the ninth when he struck out Nick Banks with runners on first and second to end the inning.
Richmond nearly earned a walk-off win in the bottom of the ninth inning after loading the bases with one out, but reliever Jordan Mills induced a force-out at home plate before Maris grounded out to end the threat.
Washington Nationals first baseman Ryan Zimmerman went 0-for-2 with a walk in a rehab appearance and played five innings at first base. It was the first time Zimmerman had played at The Diamond since April 29, 2003, when the University of Virginia baseball team traveled to Richmond to play VCU.
The Flying Squirrels finish their series with the Harrisburg Senators on Sunday when right-hander Alfred Gutierrez (7-5, 4.22 ERA) faces right-hander Kevin McGowan (1-1, 3.94 ERA). First pitch is scheduled for 1:05 p.m. and coverage begins with the Flying Squirrels Pregame Warmup at 12:35 p.m. on Sports Radio 910 the Fan and 105.1 FM.
The first 1,000 fans 14 and younger to arrive at The Diamond on Sunday will receive a Flying Squirrels 8-bit “gamer” T-shirt as part of Video Game Madness Day.
Every Sunday in Funnville, families are invited down to the field to play catch in the outfield from 12:15-12:35 p.m. presented by Nesquik. Fans can enter the field through the Section 107-108 field gate near the first base dugout.
Kids 14 & younger can run the bases following Friday and Sunday home games in Funnville presented by Richmond Family Magazine. Kids wanting to run the bases are asked the line up at the Section 107-108 field gate near the first base dugout at the conclusion of the game.
For tickets or more information, call 804-359-3866 (FUNN), visit SquirrelsBaseball.com/Tickets or stop by the Flying Squirrels box office.
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Chris Graham
