The Flying Squirrels (15-31) turned in their third consecutive win on Thursday morning with a 4-1 victory over the B-Mets (18-27) at NYSEG stadium.
The win marks the first time this season that Richmond has won three straight games. The Squirrels have now won five of the last six contests after snapping the 14-game losing streak on Saturday. Dan Slania made his first career start and hurled five shutout innings with eight strikeouts to set the tone. Richmond snapped a scoreless game with three consecutive doubles in the seventh inning and Tyler Rogers preserved the win by pitching a scoreless ninth for his third save of the season. The Squirrels eight-game road trip continues on Friday at 6:35 PM in Erie, PA. Richmond will return to The Diamond on Tuesday, May 31st with a Silver Squirrels Night. Please note the Flying Squirrels office will be closed Friday through Monday in honor of Memorial Day. The full promotional schedule can be found here.
Dan Slania took the ball for the Squirrels and impressed in his first professional start. Slania was working on a pitch count and made the most of all 65 pitches thrown. The righty retired the B-Mets first 10 batters of the game before Victor Cruzado singled with one out in the fourth inning.
Binghamton also used an effective start from their right-hander Robert Gsellman to keep the game scoreless for the first six innings. Gsellman scattered three hitsover the first six innings. Christian Arroyo lobbed a double to left field in the first but Gsellman struck out the next two hitters to end the threat. Arroyo started up the offense again with a two- out single in the third, but was again stranded. The Squirrels shortstop collected his 13th multi-hit game and extended his hitting streak to nine consecutive games.
Slania continued to move through the B-Mets lineup with ease, striking out the side in the third inning. He allowed just one runner to reach second base and struck out a career-high eight batters before reaching his limit after five frames Slania departed after five innings of work and left with the game scoreless. Ray Black (1-4) entered to pitch the sixth and yielded a bunt base hit to the pitcherGsellman. Black walked two batters to load the bases and then induced a flyball to end the inning. Black earned his first win of the season as the Richmond offense broke through in the seventh.
With Black keeping the B-Mets off the board, the Squirrels surged ahead in the top of the seventh inning, forcing Gsellman from the game. Ali Castillo ignited the offense with a base hit and scored on a slicing double down the left field line from Jeff Arnold for a 1-0 lead. Pinch hitter Ricky Oropesa launched a double for a 2-0 lead and Rando Moreno made it 3-0 with a double to center. Gsellman was removed after 6 2/3 innings and allowed three runs on eight hits in theloss.
The B-Mets got a run right back in the bottom of the seventh off reliever Christian Jones. Colton Plaia led off against Jones with a base hit to center and Jones walked the next hitter Jared King to put two runners on. Jones then struck out Stefan Sabol but a ground ball to short was missed by Rando Moreno, allowing Plaia to score for a 3-1 game. Mizenko then took over and allowed a single to load the bases but got out of the jam by grounding out Wilmer Flores. The B-Mets left bases loaded in the seventh and eighth innings
Chase Johnson hurled the eighth inning and Tyler Rogers closed the door for Richmond to earn his third save of the season. Ali Castillo tripled to lead off the ninth and scored on a wild pitch to provide and insurance run. Castillo had threehits in the victory.
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Chris Graham
