Aeros Pound Squirrels Again, 15-5
Published on May 19, 2012 under Eastern League (EL1)
Richmond Flying Squirrels News Release
Akron, OH - The Akron Aeros (25-14) walloped the Richmond Flying Squirrels (20-22) for the second consecutive night at Canal Park, taking a, 15-5, victory in front of 4,104 on Saturday. The Aeros have claimed the first two games of the series by a total of 31-8. 31 runs is a Richmond franchise record for runs allowed in back-to-back ballgames.
The Aeros picked up where they left off on Friday, plating two runs off of Richmond right-hander Justin Fitzgerald in the first inning. Tim Fedroff started Akron with a lead-off single to left field. Ben Copeland followed with a double up the right-field line, placing runners at second and third with nobody out. Fitzgerald struck out Adam Abraham, but his first pitch to Chun Chen was wild to the backstop allowing Fedroff to score and Copeland to move to third base. Chen then sent a ground ball to Daniel Mayora at third base. He air-mailed the throw to first base, and Copeland scored on the error for a 2-0 lead. One of the two runs charged to Fitzgerald was unearned.
Richmond got one run back against Akron lefty Giovanni Soto in the third inning. Joel Weeks led off with a bunt-single and Soto walked Gary Brown behind him. Nick Liles bunted the runners up and Mayora grounded out to bring in Weeks to trim the Akron lead to 2-1.
It was the last positive moment in the ballgame for Richmond as the floodgates opened for the Aeros in the third inning. Juan Diaz contributed an RBI single in the third off of Fitzgerald to make it 3-1. It was just the beginning, as the Aeros sent 12 men to the plate to score eight runs in the fourth inning. Fitzgerald surrendered a two-run home run in the inning to Kyle Bellows, and singles to Copeland and Abraham before being lifted. Right-hander Edwin Quirarte came on and couldn't put out the fire. Quirarte allowed an RBI single to Chen, a two-run double to Diaz and a two-run triple to Thomas Neal. Quirarte was charged with three of the eight runs plated in the inning.
Fitzgerald (3-2) took the brunt of the fourth, and took the loss over 3 1/3 innings. He was charged with eight runs on nine hits, walked two and struck out four in his toughest outing of the season.
Soto (4-2) lasted into the sixth inning for the win. He claimed his fourth victory of the season over 5 1/3 innings. The lefty allowed just a lone run on three hits, walked three and struck out three. Right--hander Jose De La Torre cleaned up the sixth for Soto, and stayed on to work a scoreless seventh as well. Right-hander Preston Guilmet worked a scoreless eighth inning.
Akron capped their scoring with three more runs in the fifth inning and a lone run in the seventh. All four of the runs were charged to Richmond right-hander Jake Dunning. Copeland scored four runs in the ballgame for Akron, while Abraham scored three times. Copeland also had four hits while four other Aeros contributed three-hit nights.
Once again, the Squirrels only prolific offensive inning came after the game was well out-of-hand. Richmond scored four times in the top of the ninth inning off of Akron right-hander Kyle Landis. Juan Perez delivered a two-run home run to cap the scoring for the evening.
The finale of the three-game series is scheduled for 1:05 PM on Sunday afternoon at Canal Park. Richmond RHP Craig Westcott (3-3, 4.08) will make the start opposite Akron LHP T.J. McFarland (7-1, 1.86). Pregame coverage will begin at 12:35 PM on Sports Radio 910 and SportsRadio910.com.
Eastern League Stories from May 19, 2012
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