The Richmond Flying Squirrels (29-24) blanked the Erie SeaWolves (31-22), 2-0, in front of a capacity crowd of 9,560 at The Diamond on Friday night to give legendary skipper Dave Machemer his 1,600th win as a manager. The milestone comes as Mac’s Squirrels have claimed six of their last seven ballgames and sit just two games behind the SeaWolves for the Western Division lead.
Pitching dominated the early portion of the ballgame as lefties Carlos Teller and Matt Crouse squared off. Teller, starting for Richmond, kept the SeaWolves at bay for the first five innings of the ballgame, working around five walks and three singles. Crouse matched him for four innings, shutting out the Squirrels on just one hit,
However, the Squirrels broke through first in the bottom of the fifth inning. Andrew Susac led off with a single through the left-side of the infield. He was bunted to second base and advanced to third on a ground out. Javier Herrera tallied the first run of the ballgame when he singled back through the middle to bring home Susac. After five innings, Richmond held a 1-0 lead.
Teller (1-0) worked into the sixth inning before calling it a night. He held off the SeaWolves over 5 1/3 innings despite walking six and conceding three hits. He struck out two on the evening before handing it off to right-hander Omar Javier. Javier cleaned up the inning, and Teller earned the win, his first decision in the Eastern League
Crouse (4-4) outlasted Teller, but found trouble in the seventh inning. After a one-out walk to Susac, Ehire Adrianza pulled a double down the left-field line to put runners at second and third. Ryan Lollis lofted a sacrifice fly to right field to plate Susac for a 2-0 lead. Crouse, despite pitching very well, endured the loss for Erie. He permitted two earned runs on four hits, walked two and struck out seven.
Javier went on to work 2 2/3 scoreless innings of relief to bridge the ballgame to the eighth inning. Right-hander Daryl Maday entered and earned his 11th save of the season with a scoreless inning that included two strikeouts. Javier and Maday completed the league-best seventh shutout of the season for the Richmond pitching staff.
Game two of the three-game series is scheduled for 6:05 p.m. on Saturday night at The Diamond. Richmond RHP Taylor Rogers (3-2, 6.04) will make the start against SeaWolves RHP Victor Larez (5-1, 4.74). Pregame coverage begins on Sports Radio 910, SportsRadio910.com and IHeart Radio at 5:35 p.m.
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