The Flying Squirrels (44-61) were three outs away from tying the franchise-record of seven consecutive wins on Saturday night. Instead, New Hampshire (47-59) rallied for a run in the ninth and two more in the tenth to pull out a 3-1 win in ten innings at The Diamond. In front of 8,780 fans, New Hampshire veteran Ryan Lavarnway singled to tie the game, 1-1 in the ninth. New Hampshire’s Emilio Guerrero then moved the ‘Cats ahead in the tenth with a solo home run to right for the go-ahead run. The loss wasted a solid outing from Squirrels lefty Andrew Suarez. Suarez tossed six scoreless innings but received a no-decision.
Richmond leaned on Andrew Suarez to match the franchise’s longest winning streak of seven games. Christian Lopes opened the contest with a single off Suarez and advanced tosecond on a balk. Suarez, a bit shaken at the start, picked off Lopes for the first out and set down the next two hitters to close the top of the first. Suarez was fluid through the early innings and did not allow a run in his 13th start of the year.
John Anderson was sufficient in a brief spot start for New Hampshire. Anderson pitched the first two innings of the game and struck out four batters. Steve Lerud doubled off Anderson to start the second inning, but was left at second base to keep the game scoreless. Anderson was relieved by Jason Berken to start the third after he tossed 46 pitches in the two innings.
NewHampshire’s Berken navigated around a walk in the third innings but could not do so again in the fourth. Brandon Bednar led off the fourth with a walk and Chris Shaw advanced him to third with a base hit to left center. Tyler Horan then provided the first run of the game, connecting on a sacrifice fly for a 1-0 lead.
Suarez, the reigning Pitcher of the Week, continued to move through the lineup into themiddle innings.The lefty walked the first batter Ryan McBroom to open the fifth, but set the next three hitters down to end the inning. Suarez used 78 pitches over the first five innings of work. The Miami product returned for the sixth inning, and finished his outing with a 1-2-3 frame. Suarez left the game with a 1-0 lead and allowed only four hits in the outing. He tossed 91 pitches in the no-decision.
Carlos Alvarado replaced Suarez in the seventh. Allvarado continued his impressivestint with Richmond, striking out a batter in an uneventful inning. PrestonClaiborne entered next and pitched a scoreless eighth inning, handing the ball to Rodolfo Martinez in the ninth. Martinez struggled to start the ninth andallowed four consecutive base hits to tie the game. Ryan Lavarnway made it a 1-1 affair with a base hit to right, scoring Melky Mesa from second. Martinez then picked up a double play and a strikeout to keep the contest tied and send it into extra innings.
TheSquirrels could not score against the New Hampshire bullpen trio of Josh Stilson, Murphy Smith and Chris Smith. The ‘Cats ‘pen allowed New Hampshire to hang around and eventually pull ahead in the top of the tenth. Emilio Guerrero opened the extra inning frame against Jose Casilla with his first Double-A homer to left center field. Christian Lopes would make it 3-1 by getting onwith a single and eventually scoring on a wild pitch. Casilla (1-1) was hitwith the loss in relief.
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Chris Graham
