Wilkinson, Bednar combine on one-hit shutout of Akron

Matt Wilkinson turned his first outing against his former organization into a pitching showcase, and Richmond rode that performance to a 3-0 shutout of Akron at 7 17 Credit Union Park.

Wilkinson, acquired from the Cleveland Guardians earlier in May by the San Francisco Giants, worked seven scoreless innings, tied the longest outing of his career, and allowed just one hit and one walk while striking out three. He needed only 75 pitches to face 22 batters, and after Jake Fox opened the first inning with Akron’s lone hit, Wilkinson retired 19 straight RubberDucks. Will Bednar finished the job with the final six outs for his first save, turning the night into a one-hit combined shutout.

That kind of clean two-man finish mattered because Richmond had just watched Akron take the series opener 5-2 the night before with a late offensive burst. This time, the Flying Squirrels answered with the sharper blueprint, using length from Wilkinson and a clean handoff to Bednar to avoid any late drama. The win pushed Richmond to 32-14 and widened its lead in the Eastern League Southwest Division to 6.5 games over Akron with 22 games left in the first half.

Akron did enough on the mound to keep the game tight for six innings. Khal Stephen delivered six scoreless frames of his own, allowing two hits, striking out three and stranding four baserunners. But the RubberDucks never found the swing that could change the night. After Fox’s first-inning single, the next Akron baserunner did not come until Alfonsin Rosario worked a two-out walk in the seventh, a stretch that made Stephen’s outing look better than the final score and underscored how little margin there was between the two clubs.

The game lasted 2 hours and 14 minutes and drew 3,584 fans on a cloudy night with 75-degree temperatures and a 6 mph wind. For Wilkinson, the outing gave Richmond a dominant start against a division rival and put his name in a different lane inside the organization, while Bednar’s first save offered another late-inning option as the Flying Squirrels kept building separation. Akron was set to send Josh Hartle to the mound next, with Richmond countering with Cesar Perdomo.