The Chesapeake Baysox broke open a tight game with a pair of three-run innings to beat the Richmond Flying Squirrels 7-2 on Tuesday night at Prince George’s Stadium, opening a six-game series against a team Chesapeake has dominated for most of the season.
Chesapeake (26-19 second half, 55-58 overall) trailed 1-0 after Richmond executed a double steal in the second inning that brought a runner home from third. The Baysox tied it in the third on a bases-loaded groundout, then broke the game open in the fourth: the first four batters of the inning reached base, and three came around to score on a Dom Keegan double, a Griff O’Ferrall single and a Vance Honeycutt single. Richmond starter Greg Farone took the loss. Charlie Szykowny answered with a solo homer in the sixth to cut the deficit to 4-2, but Chesapeake put the game away in the eighth, scoring three more runs capped by a two-run Wehiwa Aloy home run — his fourth Double-A homer in just 19 games since his promotion.
Left-hander Caden Hunter, Baltimore’s No. 4 organizational prospect and a Top-100 prospect leaguewide according to MLB.com, worked around traffic for five innings and allowed one run to earn the win, improving to 2-2. Sebastian Gongora struck out a pair over three scoreless relief innings, and Ryan Long closed it out in the ninth.
Honeycutt’s contribution came in his Double-A debut. Promoted from High-A Frederick, where he’d stolen a team-high 28 bases this season, Honeycutt went 1-for-3 with two stolen bases and drove in a run in his first game at the level.
Also in the lineup: Orioles catcher Samuel Basallo, on a rehabilitation assignment as he works back from right shoulder inflammation that has sidelined him since mid-July. Basallo, Baltimore’s primary catcher for most of last season and this one, went 0-for-5 playing first base but made several strong defensive plays, including a diving catch to end the seventh inning. He played earlier in the rehab stint at Triple-A Norfolk before joining Chesapeake, and the Orioles have said he could rejoin the big-league roster before the end of their current homestand.
Tuesday’s win extended a lopsided season series: Chesapeake won five of six meetings against Richmond in an earlier series this year, including three shutouts, and has now taken the first game of this latest set as well. It also continued a strong recent stretch for Aloy, an Orioles infield prospect who has been one of the most productive hitters on the Baltimore farm since his midseason promotion, having already homered multiple times in his first three weeks at the Double-A level.
Chesapeake improved to 26-19 in the second half of the Eastern League season with the win, part of a stretch that has the Baysox well over .500 since the All-Star break despite a losing overall record on the year.
Chesapeake continues the series Wednesday, sending left-hander Joseph Dzierwa (3-1, 1.89 ERA) against Richmond right-hander Trystan Vrieling (5-2, 4.34 ERA). First pitch is scheduled for 6:35 p.m. at Prince George’s Stadium.
