EL1 Richmond Flying Squirrels

Verdugo Dazzles, Bats Awaken, Squirrels Roll, 9-3

Published on June 8, 2011 under Eastern League (EL1)
Richmond Flying Squirrels News Release


PORTLAND, ME - The Richmond Flying Squirrels (28-30) erupted late to pull away from the Portland Sea Dogs (20-37), 9-3, in game two of a three-game series at Hadlock Field on Wednesday night. The win for the Squirrels snapped a six-game win-streak for the Sea Dogs and sets up a rubber-match scenario on Thursday night in the series-finale.

Starting pitchers Ryan Verdugo and Brock Huntzinger traded three scoreless innings, as pitching dominated the early portion of the ballgame. The Squirrels finally broke through first against Huntzinger in the fourth inning. Roger Kieschnick led off the inning with a swinging-bunt single, and advanced to third base with two outs. Drew Biery drove in Kieschnick with an RBI double high off the Maine Monster in left field. The Squirrels led, 1-0, on the strength of their first run of the series.

Verdugo didn't allow a hit until the fourth, and kept the Sea Dogs at bay through five scoreless innings. However, the Sea Dogs recorded their first tally in the sixth to tie the game, 1-1. Chih-Hsien Chiang sparked the rally, and extended his personal hit-streak to eight games, when he led off with a single. A batter later, John Hee singled to left field. Oscar Tejeda then tied the game with a single looped into left-center field.

The Richmond response came immediately in the top of the seventh inning. Hunsicker had retired to a no-decision after six innings, giving way to left-hander Cesar Cabral. The left-hander entered and conceded a one-out single to Ryan Lormand at the bottom of the Richmond order. Justin Christian followed and laced a triple up the alley in right-center field. Lormand scampered around from first base to give the Squirrels the lead back, 2-1. Kieschnick capped the inning when he brought Christian in with a crisp single into right field for a 3-1 advantage. Cabral (1-4) was tagged with the loss for Portland.

Verdugo (4-1) stuck around to work a perfect seventh inning, and departed to the win after the inning. He was again sensational, allowing just a lone run on five hits. He walked three and struck out six as he won for the fourth time on the year.

The Squirrels exploded in the eighth inning, matching their most prolific inning of the season, while blowing the game open. Richmond did all their damage against right-hander Seth Garrison, roughing him up for six runs on five hits, concluding the inning with a 9-1 lead. The inning included an RBI double for Sharlon Schoop, an RBI single from Christian and an RBI ground out from Kieschnick. Charlie Culberson then provided the exclamation point, hammering a three-run home run to center field, capping the Squirrels scoring for the evening.

Tim Fedorowicz belted a two-run home run off of Squirrels' right-hander Osiris Matos in the bottom of the eighth inning to complete the scoring in the ballgame. Left-hander Wilmin Rodriguez finished the ballgame with a scoreless ninth inning.

The finale of the three-game series is scheduled for 7:00 PM on Thursday night at Hadlock Field. LHP Eric Surkamp (3-3, 1.92) will make the start for the Squirrels against RHP Alex Wilson (5-3, 2.62) for the Sea Dogs. Pre-game coverage will begin at 6:30 PM on Sports Radio 910 AM and SportsRadio910.com.

Check out the Richmond Flying Squirrels Statistics

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Eastern League Stories from June 8, 2011


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