Richmond Flying Squirrels �9, �Altoona Curve �5 (box)
2B Josh Harrison posted 3 hits for the Curve in their first visit to Richmond, Virginia — the old home of the former Richmond Braves, when they were Atlanta’s AAA affiliate. �Harrison led off the 2nd inning with a single, moved to second base on a balk, moved to third on LF Jose De Los Santos’ sacrifice bunt, and then scored on a fielding error. �In the 6th, Harrison started a rally with a one-out single, followed by a single from RF Alex Presley, and after an out, another single by C Kris Watts. Pinch-hitter Jim Negrych cleared the bases with a ringing double into left field, which tied the score at 1-1. �Harrison also singled to lead off the 3rd, but was left on base.
The Curve scored their remaining run in the 3rd inning, when SS Chase d’Arnaud led off with a single, stole second, went to third after tagging up on a fly out, and scored on 3B Jordy Mercer’s sacrifice fly. �The Curve loaded the bases in the top of the 9th with two outs. �RF Miles Durham bounced a ground-rule double over the right-center field wall, and Mercer and 1B Matt Hague both walked, bringing up Harrison. �But Harrison had already collected his three hits, and he couldn’t do anything more — a fly out ended the game.
The scary point in the game came in the 8th. �With one out, �Richmond 2B Nick Noonan lifted a fly ball to short left center field, and both CF Gorkys Hernandez and�Jose De Los Santos gave chase — and ran right into one another. �Neither caught the ball, which rolled and rolled until someone, probably Alex Presley, could track it down, and by then, Noonan had an inside-the-park home run, but in a way he wouldn’t have wanted. �After some work by both team trainers, both Hernandez and De Los Santos were able to walk off the field, and both were removed from the game. �No further info available at this point.
Starter Tim Alderson pitched 5 innings for the Curve. �He gave up two runs in the 1st inning, on three singles and a fielding error by Hernandez. �He pitched well over the next two innings, then gave up another two runs in the 4th. �Another fielding error, this one by d’Arnaud, plus a single and a double brought in the runs. �A triple and a single scored Richmond’s 5th run in the 5th inning. � Alderson left the mound behind by a score of 5-2, but the Curve scored 3 runs in the top of the 6th — Negyrch was pinch-hitting for Alderson when he hit the double that brought those runs in.
Dustin Molleken relieved Alderson to begin the 6th, and he retired the side in that inning. �The 7th inning did not go so well. �Molleken gave up a walk, a single, a walk, a 2-RBI single, and a 1-RBI single, all before an out was recorded. �The first out came when RF Presley threw out that last batter as he tried to stretch his RBI single into a double. �Molleken struck out the next two batters to end the inning, but Richmond had taken an 8-5 lead. �The Flying Squirrells added another run in the 8th on that inside-the-park home run. �After the shuffling to replace the two outfielders, Danny Moskos finished the game on the mound, with a walk, a ground out, and a strikeout.
Curve notes:
Alex Presley’s hitting streak is now at 17 games, and Miles Durham’s is at 7 games. �Presley’s average is now .368, which is second in the Eastern League. �Josh Harrison’s is .364
�
Greensboro Grasshoppers �4, �West Virginia Power 2 (box)
The last part of the 3-hit story: �the Power were held to just 3 hits in the game: �singles by CF Evan Chambers, LF Rogelios Noris, and 3B Adenson Chourio. They also walked 6 times.
After two 1-2-3 innings, the Power began the 3rd inning with back-to-back walks to C Josue Peley and SS Benji Gonzalez, and a wild pitch on ball four put the runners on second and third bases. Chourio grounded out, allowing Peley to score. �Chambers singled, scoring Gonzalez. �Chambers stole second base and advanced to third on a throwing error by the Greensboro catcher as he tried to throw Chambers out, but Chambers was left on third base.
The Power also collected two walks in the 4th inning, but Noris was eliminated in a double play and RF Wes Freeman was caught stealing. �A single by Chourio and two walks (Chambers and 2B Jarek Cunningham) loaded the bases in the 5th, but all three were left stranded. �The only other base runner the Power had over the last four innings was Noris, who singled to lead off the 6th, but again was stranded on base.
Power starter Gabriel Alvarado pitched into the 4th inning, but gave up runs in three of his innings. �Fielding errors by 1B Kyle Morgan and Cunningham contributed to two runs in the 1st inning, aiding a walk and two singles by the Grasshoppers. �A hit batter, a stolen base, and an RBI double added another run in the 2nd inning. �A double play got Alvarado out of the 3rd inning after he’d given up two singles. �Then a solo homer in the 4th gave Greensboro their fourth run. �That was all for Alvarado, who allowed those 2 unearned runs and 2 earned runs on 7 hits and a walk in 3.1 innings. �Jason Erickson ended the 4th inning with two strikeouts, then pitched 3 more scoreless innings, allowing a triple in the 6th and a single in the 7th. �Brandon Holden pitched the final two innings of the game. �He got a fly out in the 8th, and struck out the other 5 batters he faced.
�
�
