Richmond Flying Squirrels get five scoreless from Carson Whisenhunt in 6-1 win

Six unanswered runs and a strong pitching performance rocketed the Richmond Flying Squirrels to a 6-1 comeback victory against the Altoona Curve Wednesday night at The Diamond.

Carson Whisenhunt and Nick Zwack (Win, 2-3) held the Curve (28-23), the Double-A affiliate of the Pittsburgh Pirates, to five combined hits and a 1-for-7 mark with runners in scoring position.

Whisenhunt worked five scoreless innings and struck out seven batters in his first Double-A start. He allowed four baserunners in his outing with two walks and two hits.

Altoona took a 1-0 lead in the sixth inning when Matt Gorski lined an RBI single to center field but was tagged out in a rundown trying to take second. It was the only run that Zwack allowed over four innings of work and totaled six strikeouts.

Richmond (23-29) stormed back with four runs in the bottom of the sixth inning to jump ahead, 4-1. Riley Mahan started the charge with a solo home run against Nick Dombkowski (Loss, 1-2), evening the score at 1-1.

Later in the inning with runners at first and second, Carter Williams propelled an RBI single to give the Flying Squirrels, the Double-A affiliate of the San Francisco Giants, the lead, and Vaun Brown drove in two runs with a single to left-center field to move Richmond in front by three runs.

Brett Auerbach padded the lead to 6-1 with a two-RBI double in the bottom of the seventh. Auerbach finished the night 2-for-3 with one walk and a run.

Zwack struck out five of the final six batters he faced through the eighth and ninth innings to secure the Richmond victory.

The Flying Squirrels will face the Curve Thursday with first pitch scheduled for 6:35 p.m. Right-hander Mason Black (0-4, 5.89) will make the start for Richmond opposed by Altoona right-hander Jared Jones (1-2, 2.36).

On Thursday, the Flying Squirrels honor local law enforcement, firefighters and EMS with First Responders Night presented by Triangle Plumbing. First responders can present their ID for 2 general admission tickets. Fans can enjoy fireworks up close and inside the fences following the game.

Tickets are available online at SquirrelsBaseball.com/Tickets, by phone at 804-359-FUNN (3866) or in person at the Flying Squirrels ticket office.