Squirrels take 2 of 3 from Thunder
TRENTON » Ryan Bollinger has been one of the pleasant surprises in the Yankees’ system so far, but this was one night he’d rather forget.
The left-hander came off the disabled list and gave up six runs in 3.2 innings and the Thunder dropped two out of three to Richmond with a 6-3 setback at Arm & Hammer Park on Thursday night.
Bollinger entered play with a 1.44 ERA in four Double-A starts and had pitched well enough that the Yankees even purchased his contract and brought him to the major leagues for one day last month.
After sailing through the first two innings, he got touched up for a pair of runs in the third before Jerry Sands launched a two-run homer and Matt Lipka followed with a two-run double in the fourth.
Trailing 6-1, the Thunder tried to mount a rally in the fifth and pulled a pair of runs back on an RBI double by Trey Amburgey and ground out by Abiatal Avelino.
But the inning stalled after Amburgey’s decision to steal third backfired when he was thrown out for the second out. Naturally, Ryan McBroom and Billy Fleming both followed with singles, but the threat ended when Zack Zehner struck out swinging.
The Thunder (34-24) had the bases loaded with one out in the third, but Squirrels (30-26) starter Chase Johnson got Fleming to ground into a 5-2-3 doubleplay.
Trenton brought the tying run to the plate in the ninth after a pair of two-out singles, but Amburgey grounded out to short for the final out.
The Thunder host Tim Tebow and the Binghamton Rumble Ponies for a three-game set beginning Friday at 7 p.m.