The Akron RubberDucks (51-36) handed Richmond their sixth straight loss in a 4-3 contest on Friday night at The Diamond. The Flying Squirrels (41-44) rallied from a 4-0 deficit in the seventh inning but came up one run short for the second consecutive night. Richmond hurler Taylor Hill turned in a quality start despite the loss. Richmond has dropped the first three games of the series and will try to snap their longest slide of the year on Saturday night at 6:05 p.m. Saturday in Funnville features In-Your-Face Fireworks and a tribute to Tom Petty. The Squirrels will be wearing and auctioning off special Full Moon Fever-themed Jerseys during the game.
Sands’ double in the sixth inning marked his league-leading 23rd of the season. It was one of just three hits produced by Richmond in the defeat. Hill tossed six quality innings and newcomer Olbis Parra worked a pair of scoreless innings in his Double-A debut.
Taylor Hill made his third start of the year for Richmond and his first at The Diamond as a member of the Flying Squirrels. The veteran and former Harrisburg Senator danced around difficulty in the first, stranding the bases loaded. Hill recorded the first two outs with ease before Joe Sever roped a double out to left field. Hill but Bobby Bradley on with a walk and skimmed the sleeve of Connor Marabell to load the bases. Hill dug in and popped up Indians No. 7 prospect Willie Castro to end the threat.
Sever’s double in the first tied him for the Eastern League lead (22). Hill tossed 20 pitches in the inning and settled in for a 1-2-3 second inning. The righty Hill needed just 12 pitches to work out of the third but encountered trouble to start the fourth inning. Connor Marabell opened the inning with a flyball into the wind down the leftfield line. The ball carried with an impending storm overhead and scraped the outfield wall for a 1-0 Akron lead.
The ‘Ducks made it a 3-0 lead in the fourth inning by bringing home a pair of singles to start the frame. Daniel Salters and Andrew Calica connected on base hits and advanced on a sacrifice bunt. Joe Sever then flared an RBI single into right field and Bobby Bradley added a sacrifice fly to left.
Richmond struggled to do much offensively against Akron starting pitcher Jake Paulson. The 6’-7” Paulson retired the Squirrels in order in the second, third, fifth and sixth innings.
Hill lasted six strong innings and turned in a quality start for Richmond in the defeat. Hill (0-3) allowed the three runs on seven hits. He walked one and struck out three, using 93 pitches in the effort.
The Squirrels rallied for three runs in the seventh inning, finally getting to Paulson. Dylan Davis and Aramis Garcia each worked a walk to open the inning and Jerry Sands roped an RBI double up the left field line for a 4-1 contest. Sands’ double forced Akron to bring in reliever Rob Kaminski from the pen. Kaminski allowed a pair of inherited runners to score, unleashing a wild pitch and an RBI ground out. Matt Lipka’s groundout to first pulled Richmond to within a run, 4-3.
The ‘Ducks bullpen managed to hold on from there with another inning from Kaminsky and a 1-2-3 frame from Henry Martinez. Martinez recorded his ninth save in Paulson (5-3) earned the win by tossing 6+ innings in the outing. The righty allowed three runs on three hits. He struck out three and walked four to earn the win.
The Flying Squirrels continue their five -game Independence Day Weekend homestand on Saturday night at 6:05 p.m. LHP Conner Menez (2-1, 6.05) will make the start for Richmond against Akron’s LHP Sean Brady (5-4, 4.04). Saturday in Funnville features In-Your-Face Fireworks and a tribute to Tom Petty. The Squirrels will be wearing and auctioning off special Full Moon Fever Jerseys during the game. Tickets can be purchased online over the phone by calling 804-359-3866 (FUNN).
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