The Richmond Flying Squirrels (68-67) desperately held onto a 3-2 win on Wednesday night in Harrisburg to keep their playoff hopes alive. The Squirrels parlayed a three-run third inning into a win for starting pitcher Chase Johnson and moved to three games back of a playoff spot with only five games remaining in the regular season. Richmond and Harrisburg conclude the series on Thursday night at Metro Bank Park. The Squirrels will then return home for the final four games of the regular season Friday-Monday at The Diamond.
The Flying Squirrels struck first with three runs in the third inning against Harrisburg’s starting pitcher Brian Rauh. Engel Beltre and Jackson Williams opened up the frame with consecutive base hits. Squirrels pitcher Chase Johnson then stepped to the plate for his first professional at bat and executed a sacrifice bunt that was misplayed, allowing Johnson to reach and the bases to be loaded. Rando Moreno grounded a base hit to center fielded for a 2-0 lead and Hunter Cole lifted a sacrifice fly to right to score Johnson, 3-0.
Rauh (2-5) lasted just four innings for the Senators and suffered the defeat. The righty allowed the three runs (two earned) on three hits with five strikeouts in the outing. Wander Suero relived Rauh in the fifth and hurled three scoreless innings to bridge the game to the seventh.
The Senators (66-71) chipped away at the 3-0 deficit with a run in the fourth and another in the fifth. Johnson walked a pair of runners in the fourth after retiring the first ten batters to begin the outing. With two on and two outs, Cutter Dykstra connected on a single for a 3-1 contest. Harrisburg pulled to within a run, as Drew Vettelson singled and eventually scored from third base on a wild pitch.
Chase Johnson (1-1) navigated through five innings to earn his first win in his third Double-A start. Johnson allowed the two runs on three hits and three walks with five strikeouts on 89 pitches. The Squirrels maintained the lead into the ninth inning with a pair of scoreless innings from Aldaberto Mejia and one scoreless from pitched by Pedro Rodriguez. Derek Law closed out the ninth to secure the win and earn his 11th save of the season .
The Squirrels eight game road trip concludes Thursday night with game finale of a four game series in Harrisburg. Squirrels LHP Matt Gage (2-3, 4.91) will make the start against Senators RHP John Simms (2-2, 4.50). First pitch is scheduled for 7:00 with the Pregame Warmup beginning at 6:35 PM on Fox Sports 910 and FoxSportsRichmond.com. The Squirrels return home on Friday to begin he final series of the regular season against Reading. The Remaining Squirrels promotional schedule is as follows: (9/4) Free Shirt Fridays, Happy Hour & Ladies Night. (9/5) Superblast Saturday and 20th Anniversary of Billy Madison. (9/6) Kids Club Metal Lunchbox Giveaway. (9/7) Bark In the Park #3 – Labor Day.
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