The Richmond Flying Squirrels answered Tuesday’s blowout loss with a late-inning comeback of their own, rallying past the Chesapeake Baysox 7-4 on Wednesday in a back-and-forth game that featured three ties and four lead changes, evening the two teams’ six-game series at Prince George’s Stadium.
A night after Chesapeake routed Richmond 7-2 behind a pair of three-run innings, the Flying Squirrels flipped the script late. Chesapeake (26-20 second half, 55-59 overall) tied the game at four in the eighth on a two-run Fernando Peguero single, but Richmond answered immediately in the ninth: a Gavin Kilen RBI double put the Flying Squirrels back in front, and Sabin Ceballos followed a batter later with his second home run of the night, a two-run shot to left-center that put the game away. Right-hander Tyler Vogel, who’d already recorded the final out of the eighth, came back out and retired Chesapeake in order in the ninth to close it out.
Baysox left-hander Joseph Dzierwa, the reigning Eastern League Pitcher of the Week and Baltimore’s No. 4 organizational prospect according to MLB.com, took a no-decision despite five strong innings, allowing just two hits and a walk while striking out three. Over his last five starts, Dzierwa has posted a 0.68 ERA across 26.2 innings — a stretch that has pushed his prospect stock sharply upward this season. Ceballos snapped Dzierwa’s streak of 22 consecutive innings without an earned run with a leadoff homer in the fourth that tied the game at one.
Vance Honeycutt, making just his second appearance since his promotion from High-A Frederick, drove in Chesapeake’s first run of the night with a second-inning RBI single and has now recorded a hit and a walk with two stolen bases across his first two Double-A games. Chesapeake briefly regained the lead in the sixth on a bases-loaded, bunt-assisted rally, but couldn’t cash in a bases-loaded chance in the seventh when a double play ended the threat. Richmond’s own three-run eighth, capped by a two-run Charlie Szykowny single, put the Flying Squirrels back on top before Chesapeake’s own two-out, two-run rally in the bottom of the inning — Peguero’s third hit of the night — tied it again at four.
Peguero finished 3-for-4, his first three-hit game in 51 Double-A contests. Richmond right-hander Trystan Vrieling, opposing Dzierwa, matched him with a quality start of his own, allowing two runs over six innings in a no-decision. Right-hander Gerald Ogando followed Dzierwa out of the bullpen and struck out five over two scoreless innings, a career high across five full-season affiliated seasons, before Richmond’s rally arrived against relievers Tyson Neighbors and Jeisson Cabrera in the eighth.
The result also fits into a broader pattern this season: Richmond entered the series carrying a franchise single-season stolen-base record, having swiped 170 bags as of Tuesday’s game, breaking the previous mark of 168 set in 2014 — a reflection of the running game that has defined the Flying Squirrels’ offense all year, even as Wednesday’s win came via the long ball rather than the basepaths.
Chesapeake hosts Richmond for the third game of the six-game set Thursday, sending right-hander Anthony Eyanson (6-0, 2.01 ERA) against Richmond’s Yunior Marte (1-4, 4.32 ERA). First pitch is scheduled for 6:35 p.m. at Prince George’s Stadium.
