EL1 Richmond Flying Squirrels

Squirrels Double up Curve, 8-4

Published on July 30, 2010 under Eastern League (EL1)
Richmond Flying Squirrels News Release


RICHMOND, VA - The Richmond Flying Squirrels pushed past the Altoona Curve, 8-4, in game two of a four-game series in front of 8,913 at The Diamond on Friday night. Richmond has claimed each of the first two games of the series.

Altoona opened the scoring against Squirrels' right-hander Mike MacDonald in the third inning. Jose de los Santos started the inning with a single and was bunted to second by Tony Watson. A batter later, Josh Harrison netted the Curve a 1-0 lead when he lined a single into center field.

Richmond struck back in the fourth, plating a pair of runs against the lefty Watson. Darren Ford sparked the inning with a bunt-single. A walk to Thomas Neal followed and Brandon Belt tied the game with a softly-struck single to short-center field. After Conor Gillaspie drew a walk, Sharlon Schoop legged out a fielder's choice that allowed Neal to score for a 2-1 Richmond lead.

The Squirrels added to that lead and chased Watson in the fifth inning. MacDonald aided his own cause when he started the uprising with a one-out double. A batter later, Ryan Lormand brought in MacDonald with a two-out single. Thomas Neal followed with a double to the alley in left-center field to bring Lormand around for a 4-1 advantage. Belt singled on the infield to put runners on the corners. Gillaspie then lifted a fly ball that Miles Durham couldn't hold onto as he crashed into the right-center field wall. Both runners scored as Gillaspie pulled into third base with a two-run triple, extending Richmond's lead to 6-1.

Watson (3-1) was lifted following Gillaspie's triple, charged with six runs on seven hits over 4 2/3 innings. He walked two and struck out four as he lost for the first time on the season.

The Curve solved MacDonald in the top of the sixth inning, touching him up for three runs and expediting his departure from the ballgame. Chase d'Arnaud led off the inning with a double and Harrison followed with his second RBI single of the night. Brandon Jones contributed a single to right field that Neal misplayed, allowing the runners to second and third. Hector Gimenez brought home both with a single as Altoona pulled to within two runs, 6-4. Right-hander Daniel Turpen came out of the Richmond bullpen to record the final two outs of the inning.

MacDonald (3-7) left with the lead after 5 1/3 innings. He surrendered four earned runs on eight hits, walked none and struck out one as he won for the third time.

Richmond tacked a run back onto their lead against reliever Jared Hughes in the bottom of the sixth as Tyler La Torre opened the inning with a double to left-center field. He moved to third on a groundout and scored on an RBI single from Turpen for a 7-4 lead.

Gillaspie added another run when he launched his first home run since May 7th down the right-field line in the seventh. The blast, off of Hughes, pushed the Richmond lead to 8-4.

Turpen ultimately worked 2 2/3 scorless innings, allowing a lone hit. Andy Sisco nailed down the win for Richmond as he came on and worked a scoreless ninth.

Game three of the series is scheduled for 6:35 PM on Saturday night at The Diamond. RHP David Mixon (10-6, 3.69) will make the start for Richmond against LHP Jeff Locke (1-0, 1.59) for Altoona.

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Eastern League Stories from July 30, 2010


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