The Harrisburg Senators (22-16) cruised behind right-hander Jeff Mandel to a, 3-1, victory over the Richmond Flying Squirrels (19-20) in front of 4,281 at The Diamond on Wednesday night. The win marked the fifth straight for the Senators, also netting them the three-game series. Harrisburg is now a perfect 7-0 in road series this season.
The Senators scored an unearned run in the top of the first inning to take an early 1-0 lead. Eury Perez led off and pushed a bunt-single up the first-base line and out of the reach of Richmond left-hander Jason Stevenson. Perez stole second base, and scored a batter later when Jesus Valdez sent a soft-single into center field. The run was unearned due to an error charged to Richmond center fielder Gary Brown on the single from Valdez.
Mandel held off the Squirrels on just one hit through three innings. However, they were able to manufacture a run to tie the game, 1-1, in the fourth. Daniel Mayora cracked a single into left-center field with one out to start Richmond. Chris Dominguez followed and chopped a single over first base to move Mayora to third base. Johnny Monell knocked in Mayora with a bounce out back to the mound.
Stevenson allowed the Senators to grab the lead right back in the fifth when Chris McConnell and Mandel contributed back-to-back singles with one out. Eury Perez then lofted a double on one hop off the wall in left-center field to plate McConnell for a 2-1 lead.
Stevenson (1-5) ultimately worked seven strong innings, but the fifth-inning run doomed him to a hard-luck loss, his fifth defeat of the year. He allowed just two runs – one earned – on five hits, walked one and struck out five.
Unfortunately for Stevenson, Mandel (4-2) was slightly better. He earned his fourth victory of the season over 7 2/3 innings. He equaled the longest outing of his career, allowing just a lone run on three hits. Mandel walked four and struck out three.
Right-hander Erik Davis cleaned up the eighth inning for Mandel, and right-hander Hector Nelo nailed down the win with a scoreless ninth. Nelo earned his third save of the season.
The three-game series concludes with game three at The Diamond on Thursday night at 6:35 PM. The series-finale will feature a matchup of the top two pitchers in the Eastern League currently. Richmond will start RHP Chris Heston (3-2, 0.84), who is presently second in the EL in ERA. Harrisburg will counter with the league’s ERA leader, LHP Danny Rosenbaum (5-0, 0.71). Tickets are available and can be purchased at SquirrelsBaseball.com. Pregame coverage will begin at 6:05 PM on Sports Radio 910 and SportsRadio910.com.
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Chris Graham
