EL1 Richmond Flying Squirrels

Squirrels Scamper Past Baysox, 4-2

Published on April 11, 2011 under Eastern League (EL1)
Richmond Flying Squirrels News Release


RICHMOND, VA - The Richmond Flying Squirrels (3-2), started quickly and rode a strong Double-A debut from starter Ryan Verdugo to a, 4-2, victory over the Bowie Baysox (1-3) in front of 3,196 fans at The Diamond on Monday night.

After being shut out on Sunday afternoon, Richmond got going immediately against Bowie starter Tim Bascom with a pair of runs in the first inning. With one out, Justin Christian singled and promptly swiped second base. Roger Kieschnick followed and lashed a double down the left field line. Christian scored to give Richmond a 1-0 lead. A batter later, Juan Perez bounced a ground-rule double over the wall in right-center field to bring in Kieschnick for a 2-0 advantage.

Bowie wasted no time in responding, as Brandon Waring led off the second and whacked the first pitch from Verdugo out of the park to left field to trim the Squirrels lead to 2-1.

Richmond tacked the run right back again, getting to Bascom again in the bottom of the second. Mike McBryde and Jose Flores started the frame with back-to-back singles. McBryde was forced out at second base on a ground ball from Joel Weeks, but Christian brought home Flores with an RBI-single through the hole on the left-side of the infield.

The Baysox again closed to a lone run when Verdugo walked Carlos Rojos to start the Bowie third. He moved to second on a ground-out, and scored when Jeff Fiorentino singled two batters later.

In the bottom of the fourth, the switch-hitting Flores extended the Richmond advantage when he connected on the Squirrels first home run of the season. The solo-home run to right field was at the expense of Bascom and put the Squirrels in front, 4-2.

Verdugo (1-0) was strong in his Double-A debut, and earned the win over five innings. He allowed just the two runs on four hits, walked one and struck out five. The five-inning outing, in which he threw 86 pitches, was the longest of his professional career. Bascom (0-1) dropped his first start of the season, conceding nine hits and four earned runs over five innings. He struck out six in a losing effort.

Both bullpens were superb, as right-handers Ronnie Ray and Jason Stoffel teamed with left-hander David Quinowski out of the Squirrels' pen to take it the rest of the way. Ray handled the sixth and seventh innings, facing the minimum in both. Quinowski retired all four batters he faced, and Stoffel polished off the win by coaxing back-to-back fly outs from Waring and Caleb Joseph to end the ballgame. Stoffel (S,2) earned his second save in his second opportunity of the season. Wynn Pelzer worked three perfect innings for the Baysox.

Game two of the three-game series is scheduled for 6:35 PM on Tuesday night at The Diamond. RHP Thomas Vessella (0-0, ---) will make his first start as a Squirrel against RHP Eddie Gamboa (0-0, 0.00) for the Baysox.

Check out the Richmond Flying Squirrels Statistics

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Eastern League Stories from April 11, 2011


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