EL1 Richmond Flying Squirrels

Squirrels Squander Sweep Bid, Fall to Curve, 6-2

Published on August 1, 2010 under Eastern League (EL1)
Richmond Flying Squirrels News Release


RICHMOND, VA - The Altoona Curve held off the Richmond Flying Squirrels, 6-2, to salvage the finale of a four-game series in front of 7,944 on Sunday night at The Diamond. Richmond collected 16 hits on the night - 15 singles - only to strand 13 men on base.

Altoona jumped on top with two unearned runs against Squirrels' left-hander Clayton Tanner in the second inning. Miles Durham led off and reached when Ryan Lormand threw errantly on his ground ball back up the middle. A batter later, Tanner hit Yung-Chi Chen. A sacrifice fly from Jose de los Santos plated the first run of the night for the Curve. Curve pitcher, Bryan Morris, then delivered an RBI double to left-center field for a 2-0 lead.

Richmond got a run back in the third against Morris as Nick Noonan led off with a single. Two batters later, Conor Gillaspie ripped a double to bring him in and shave the Altoona lead to a lone run, 2-1.

The Curve widened the gap with two more unearned runs in the fourth. A key error on Lormand kept two runners aboard for Chase d'Arnaud with two outs. He delivered a two-run single into left field for a 4-1 advantage.

The Squirrels picked up their second run of the ballgame in the bottom of the inning. Tyler La Torre walked to open the frame and advanced to second base on a passed ball. Tanner then snuck a single back through the middle and Richmond trailed 4-2.

Altoona answered and stretched their advantage to three runs with a final unearned tally against Tanner in the fifth. Tanner walked Gimenez to lead off the inning. He promptly stole second base and advanced to third when La Torre's throw got through to center field. A sacrifice fly from Matt Hague lifted to center field put the Curve out front, 5-2.

Morris (5-4) was finished after five innings, allowing two runs - one earned - while scattering nine hits. He walked three and struck out five as he earned his fifth win of the season.

Tanner (7-7) endured some sloppy defense behind him as he was saddled with the loss over six innings. He allowed five unearned runs on six hits, walked one and struck out four.

Altoona tacked on a run against Ronnie Ray in the eighth inning as Matt Hague knocked in Gimenez with an RBI double that capped the scoring, 6-2.

The Curve used four hurlers to complete the win. Right-handers Tom Baleska, Ramon Aguero, Anthony Claggett and Michael Dubee each worked a scoreless inning to finish the ballgame.

In the loss, Noonan tied a franchise record by recording five hits. He went 5-for-5, all five hits singles. He now shares that record with Gillaspie who recorded five hits on May 27th against Binghamton.

The Squirrels are off on Monday as they travel to Manchester, NH, to open a three-game series with the New Hampshire Fisher Cats (Toronto Blue Jays) on Tuesday night. RHP Craig Westcott (2-1, 3.81) will make the start for Richmond in the opener against RHP Zach Stewart (8-2, 3.75) for New Hampshire.

Check out the Richmond Flying Squirrels Statistics

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Eastern League Stories from August 1, 2010


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