Squirrels' Comeback Stalls, Cats Take Opener, 7-6
August 2, 2011 - Eastern League (EL1)
Richmond Flying Squirrels News Release
RICHMOND, VA - The Richmond Flying Squirrels' (60-49) ninth-inning rally fell a run shy, and they dropped the opener of a three-game series to the New Hampshire Fisher Cats (60-49), 7-6, in front of 7,364 at The Diamond on Tuesday night.
After struggling on the Squirrels' recent road trip, Charlie Culberson gave the Squirrels a quick lead when he hammered a fastball from New Hampshire right-hander Deck McGuire over the wall in left-center field. The solo-shot was Culberson's eighth of the season, and gave Richmond a 1-0 advantage.
Travis d'Arnaud erased the Squirrels' lead when opened the second inning with a solo-home run to right field. The opposite-field blast came off of Richmond right-hander Justin Fitzgerald, leveling the ballgame, 1-1.
The Squirrels broke back on top with a pair of runs off of McGuire in the last of the fourth. Roger Kieschnick led off and cranked his team-best 14th home run of the season to center field. Chris Dominguez followed with a double to left field. He came around for a 3-1 lead on a pair of ground balls from Wes Hodges and Johnny Monell.
New Hampshire pulled back within a run with a pair of doubles off of Fitzgerald in the sixth inning. d'Arnaud added a double to his earlier home run, cracking a fastball through the alley in right-center field. A batter later, Mark Sobolewski sent a soft-fly just fair up the right-field line to trim the Squirrels' advantage to 3-2.
Things fell apart for Richmond following Fitzgerald's departure. Right-hander Mitch Lively entered and conceded a lead-off single to Yan Gomes. Jonathan Diaz followed and sent a ground ball to third base. Dominguez misplayed it, and both runners were safe on the error. It would prove costly, as a batter later Adeiny Hechavarria crunched a go-ahead two-run double into the left-center field alley. Hechavarria later scored when Sharlon Schoop committed an error on a ground ball from d'Arnaud and the Fisher Cats enjoyed a 5-3 lead. Lively (0-1) took the loss despite the fact that two of the three runs he allowed were unearned.
McGuire (2-0) settled in nicely following the fourth, and earned his second win at the Double-A level over six innings. He allowed three earned runs on five hits, walked one and struck out five.
The Fisher Cats slugged back-to-back solo-home runs in the eighth inning to extend their lead against right-hander Hector Correa. Gomes and Diaz each homered to left field to run the New Hampshire lead to 7-3.
Richmond wouldn't roll over, rallying back in the ninth inning to score three runs and put the tying run at second base with nobody out. Hodges drove in Kieschnick and Dominguez with a two-run double, and Monell plated Hodges with an RBI double to left field. Right-hander Clint Everts came on to record the final three outs, including lining Schoop into a game-ending double-play. Everts earned his first save of the season.
Game two of the three-game series is scheduled for 7:05 PM on Wednesday night at The Diamond. LHP Chuck Lofgren (2-0, 0.73) will make the start for the Squirrels against RHP Joel Carreno (7-8, 3.45) for the Fisher Cats. For tickets or more information, log on to SquirrelsBaseball.com.
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