Squirrels Settle For Series Win In Hartford

Hartford, CT - Flying Squirrels starting pitcher Shaun Anderson turned in a quality outing in a 3-1 Richmond loss on Wednesday in Hartford. The loss snapped the Flying Squirrels (4-3) three-game winning streak and finished the first road trip of the year. The team returns home to Richmond for the home opener on Friday at The Diamond. Limited tickets for Friday remain. Tickets and promotions for the entire homestand can be found here. 

Hartford, CT - Flying Squirrels starting pitcher Shaun Anderson turned in a quality outing in a 3-1 Richmond loss on Wednesday in Hartford. The loss snapped the Flying Squirrels (4-3) three-game winning streak and finished the first road trip of the year. The team returns home to Richmond for the home opener on Friday at The Diamond. Limited tickets for Friday remain. Tickets and promotions for the entire homestand can be found here. 
Anderson (1-1) suffered the loss despite working six solid innings. Hartford's right fielder Sam Hilliard gave the Goats a 2-0 lead in the second with his second home run of the year. Brian Mundell reached on an infield single to begin the inning and came around on a deep blast over the right field wall from Hilliard. Anderson regrouped after the homer and struck out a pair around a base hit to close the second.
The righty Anderson quickly recovered and moved through the third and fourth innings in his second start of the year. The righty needed just nine pitches to retire the side in the third, using only 48 pitches after four frames. Hartford tacked on a run in the fifth when Yonathan Daza smashed an RBI triple to right center to make it a 3-1 Yard Goats lead.
Richmond struggled to find offense against Hartford hurler Ryan Castellani. The 22 year-old Castellani earned with win with six innings pitched. He walked one, struck out five and allowed just three hits in the effort.
The Flying Squirrels cut the deficit to 2-1 in the fourth, but were left wanting with the bases loaded. Ronnie Jebavy was hit by a pitch to open the inning and he advanced to third when Ryan Howard singled to right field. That set up the return of Miguel Gómez who lined a base hit into center for the Squirrels first run of the game. With wo outs, Jonah Arenado worked a walk to load the bases, but Castellani struck out Davis to keep the Hartford lead intact.
Anderson lasted six innings and allowed the three runs on six hits. He struck out six and did not walk a batter in the loss. Dan Slania and Ryan Halstead each retired the side in relief for Richmond.
RVA Acorns:

• The Flying Squirrels are two games above the .500 mark for the first time since September 7, 2015.
• Ryan Howard had the first three-hit game of the year for a Squirrels player. The shortstop had 14 games of three or more hits in 2017 with san Jose.
• The Flying Squirrels won three or more games five times last year. The longest winning streak was five games from August 18-22.
• The Flying Squirrels faced Castellani just once last year on Opening Day. Richmond scored nine runs (four earned) in thee contest against the second round pick.
• San Francisco released outfielder Daniel Carbonell prior to Wednesday's game. The Cuban-native signed with the Giants on June 16, 2014. He appeared in 115 regular season games with Richmond over parts of three seasons. Carbonell had joined the Squirrels for the 2014 playoff run and appeared in seven games with a .250 BA
• Miguel Gomez was returned to the Squirrels for the first time since he was summoned to San Francisco following the game on July 6, 2017. Gomez appeared in 22 games at the MLB level last year.
• Ronie Jebavy had his first Double-A hit taken away in Tuesday's game in Hartford. Jebavy hit a slow roller up the third base line in the sixth inning of game two in the series. Jebavy beat out a low throw and the play was initially ruled a hit. Upon review the call was reverted to an error, leaving Jebavy 0-18 entering Wednesday. Jebavy stroked a solid single to start the game and his drought.
• Jonah Arenado made an over the shoulder basket catch down the left field line in the sixth inning.

The Flying Squirrels are off on Thursday and will open the 2018 home schedule on Friday at The Diamond. RHP Jordan Johnson (0-1, 10.80) is scheduled to work against Reading's LHP Jojo Romero (0-1, 11.25). The homestand rolls through the weekend and ends on Thursday afternoon. Ticket are available by contacting the box office at 804-359-3866 or online at squirrelsbaseball.com.