The New Britain Rock Cats (9-6) rolled behind seven scoreless innings from lefty Yohan Flande to a, 6-2, win over the Richmond Flying Squirrels (3-9) at The Diamond on Thursday night. The loss was the seventh straight for the Squirrels, matching the franchise record for consecutive losses. It marks the third time a Squirrels club has dropped seven straight. It last happened in 2013, and also occurred in 2010.
The Rock Cats got the jump on lefty Jack Snodgrass in the top of the first inning. David Dahl led off and bounced a single through the right side of the infield. Snodgrass then issued a walk to Trevor Story to put two aboard with nobody out. A wild pitch advanced Dahl to third. He scored from there for a 1-0 lead when Tommy Murphy bounced into a double-play. Noel Cuevas then singled to spark the inning anew. Mike Tauchman followed with a triple yanked into the right-field corner. Cuevas scored for a 2-0 New Britain advantage.
Cuevas and Tauchman provided back-to-back singles to start the third as the Rock Cats tacked a run on to their lead. After the consecutive singles, Will Swanner lifted a sacrifice fly to right field for a 3-0 lead.
Snodgrass (1-2) was doomed to the loss, working five innings. He was charged with three earned runs on six hits. He walked one and struck out three.
New Britain also got started in a hurry against the Squirrels’ bullpen, as right-hander Tyler Mizenko made his Double-A debut following Snodgrass. Tauchman notched a one-out double, his third hit of the night. Mizenko then walked Swanner to put two aboard. Jayson Langfels then made it 5-0 with a two-run double cracked through the alley In left-center field.
Meanwhile, Flande (1-0) was cruising. He allowed just two hits over his seven sterling innings, earning his third win of the year.
Right-hander Jose Ortega had a little trouble in the eighth inning, conceding the only runs of the night for the Squirrels. Kelby Tomlinson knocked in the first run with a single, while the second scored on a wild pitch.
The Rock Cats capped the scoring with a run off righty Pedro Rodriguez in the top of the ninth inning. Pat Valaika supplied a sacrifice fly after Langfels opened the inning with a triple to right-center field.
Game two of the four-game series is scheduled for 7:05 p.m. at The Diamond on Friday night. Richmond RHP Kyle Crick (0-0, 2.08) will make the start against New Britain RHP Matt Flemer (0-1, 4.50). The Flying Squirrels Pregame Warmup will begin at 6:35 p.m. on Fox Sports 910 and FoxSportsRichmond.com.
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