Nick Yobbi barely learned the names of his Butler middle infielders before he professed his love to them.

Inning-ending double plays deftly turned will bring out affection in any pitcher — even one as new as Yobbi.

“I told my second baseman and shortstop (Zac LaNeve and Matt Peters), ‘I love you guys already,’” Yobbi said, laughing.

Butler turned three double plays on the night, including one on Yobbi’s first pitch as a member of the BlueSox, in a 5-2 win over Richmond at Kelly Automotive Park Sunday.

The win completed a weekend sweep of the RiverRats. Butler won Saturday’s game at The KAP, 6-3.

Yobbi, who pitched at South Park High School and was a freshman this spring at the University of South Carolina Aiken, was signed Thursday, but just joined the team Sunday.

“I was coming off a long season in college and I just felt like I needed a little break,” said Yobbi, who relieved Brett Sullivan with the bases loaded and one out in the top of the sixth inning with Butler up 4-2 and induced a 4-6-3 double play with his first pitch. “I’ve been throwing a lot lately. It was nice throwing to live batters again.”

Sullivan worked quickly and was effective again, going 5 1/3 innings and throwing 51 of his 85 pitches for strikes.

Twelve of Yobbi’s 21 pitches went for strikes.

“He fits in real well with what we are trying to do here,” said Butler manager Anthony Rebyanski of Yobbi. “Our bullpen is wearing a little bit thin. It’s a long season. He throws a ton of strikes.”

Richmond took an early 1-0 lead in a top of the first inning that was interrupted by a 14-minute delay, but Butler struck back in the bottom of the second inning on a RBI single by Grove City High grad and Kent State University catcher Jeff Revesz that scored Nick Sell.

The BlueSox took the lead in the third when Colin Massanelli scored from second on an infield single by Peters and blew the game open with two more runs in the bottom of the fifth. That rally was kept alive by a Richmond error.

Butler graduate Cody Herald went 2-for-4 with a double and a RBI single in the seventh that gave the BlueSox a three-run lead.

Herald is now hitting .319 this season and has 25 RBI.

Butler is 15-5 at home with the two weekend wins.

“A lot of it has to do with travel,” Rebyanski said of the BlueSox home success, as well as the good home records of many teams in the league. “Richmond, for instance, is traveling six hours (here). Champion City travels five. West Virginia travels five. The closest one is Lorain with a two-and-a-half hour drive.

“That bus ride does take a toll on you,” Rebyanski added. “You’re not home. You’re in a hotel and it’s not the best night’s rest for you. With the way the schedule is set up and with the travel, it does take a toll on guys. But it’s a minor league set-up. I tell the guys, ‘If you want to play minor league baseball, this is the style.’”

Butler will travel to Beckley, W.Va., for two key games against West Virginia beginning today.

“Obviously it’s hard to win at somebody else’s stadium,” Rebyanski said. “But we have to go down there and play as hard as we can and squeak out a W.”

Richmond 100 001 000 — 2 9 2

Butler 011 020 10x — 5 10 0

W: Brett Sullivan 5.1IP (1K, 3BB). L: Bowie Matteson 6.2IP (6K, 1BB).

Richmond: (13-25, 3-9):Nick Sergakis 1B, Justin Paulsen 2-1B RBI, Kyle Jackson 2-1B, Ryan Leffel 1B, Joe Schrimpf 1B RBI, Tom Spear 1B, Brendan Flood 2B

Butler (23-16, 8-3): Colin Massanelli 1B, Matt Peters 1B, Cody Herald 1B 2B RBI, Nick Sell 3-1B RBI, Stuart Levy 1B, Jeff Revesz 1B RBI, Taylor Schmidt 1B

Monday: Butler at Richmond