Altoona slips by Richmond

Richmond Flying Squirrels catcher Matt Winn homered for the second consecutive game on Saturday afternoon, but Richmond (6-11) came up short in a 4-3 loss at Peoples Natural Gas Field in Altoona.

Winn drilled his second homer in as many games over the left field wall to pull the Squirrels within a run in the losing effort. Altoona (7-9) pitcher Jason Creasy (3-0) allowed only one run despite giving up eight hits to earn the win. Squirrels starter Matt Gage (0-2) was hit with the loss in a six-inning effort. The Squirrels will attempt tosplit the four game series in the finale on Sunday afternoon at Peoples Natural Gas Field

Altoona threated against Matt Gage in the first with a pair of base hits Harold Ramirez and Jose Osuna collected singles but Gage worked out of the inning by getting a double play to end the frame. Richmond mirrored the Curve in the top of the second, picking up base hits from Ricky Oropesa and Hunter Cole, but couldn’t bring them home.

Gage attempted to aid his cause by doubling to begin the third inning. Altoona starting pitcher Jason Creasy then buckled down and struck out Rando Moreno and Myles Schroder, leading to Gage being stranded at second base. Richmond did break through with a run in the fourth for a 1-0 lead. With one out, Hunter Cole single to left and Ryder Jones followed with a booming double to right to bring up Matt Winn. Winn hit a high pop up on the infield that eluded three Altoona defenders behind the mound, falling for a base hit to load the bases. Ali Castillo then drilled a sacrifice fly to left to score Cole for the 1-0 lead.

The lead was short lived as Altoona pushed across a pair of runs in the bottom of the fourth against Gage. Erich Weiss opened the inning with awalk and Jose Osuna  followed with a single to left. After a fly ball advanced Weiss to third, Stetson Allie brought him in with a ground ball out to second base. Two batters later Jin-De Jahng delivered a RBI single for the 2-1 Altoona lead.

Gage (0-2) lasted six innings and four runs on nine hits in the loss. Stetson Allie connected on a two-run homer to centerfield to push the Curve ahead 4-1 in the sixth. Gage was able ot finish the inning and threw 85 pitches in his third start of the season while taking the loss. Dan Slania and Jake smith relieved Gage without incident for the seventh and eighth innings.

Altoona’s Jason Creasy (3-0) worked around runners on base in five of his six innings during his fourth start of the year.  Creasy hurled six innings and allowed one run on eight hits to earn the win. Altoona lefty Jared Lakind relieved Creasy and yielded a run on an RBi single off the bat of Ricky Oropesa. Lakind lasted one inning and handed the ball to Johndaniel Mediina in the eighth. Medina retired the first batter Ryder Jones but encountered catcher Matt Winn, who crushed a massive home run to left field, It was the second home run in as many games for Winn and pulled Richmond within a run, 4-3.

Altoona summoned closer Montana DuRapau for the save in the ninth. DuRapau retired the side in order to secure his fourth save of the year.

The Flying Squirrels road trip continues Sunday at 1:00 PM in Altoona with RHP Kyle Crick (1-1, 5.59) on the mound for the Squirrels vs. Altoona RHP Clay Holmes (0-2, 5.40) Season tickets, mini plans, and group packages are currently available by contacting the box office at 804-359-FUNN or online at www.squirrelsbaseball.com.