Arenado slam leads Richmond Flying Squirrels to third straight win

Jonah Arenado launched a grand slam in the fifth inning and Ray Black punched out to side in the ninth inning to preserve an 8-6 Richmond (4-2) win over Hartford (0-6) on Tuesday evening at Dunkin’ Donuts Park. Arenado’s blast, along with a solo home run from Ryan Howard, backed a solid start from Cory Taylor for the Flying Squirrels third consecutive win.

Richmond jumped out to a 6-2 lead on Arenado’s grand slam in the fifth inning off reliever Marc Magliaro. Arenado, Dylan Davis, Aramis Garcia and Ryan Howard all collected multi-hit games in the win,. Howard launched his first Double-A homer over the left field wall in the third and Arenado did the same in the fifth.

Hartford battled back from a 7-2 deficit with a pair of runs in the sixth and eighth innings. Reliever Jack McCasland authored a pair of innings of support for Richmond, but allow a pair of runs in the effort. Shortstop Brendan Rogers homered off McCasland to make it a 7-4 contest in the sixth. McCasland was replaced by Tyler Cry in the eighth and Hartford plated a pair against Cyr to pull to within a run, 7-6. With two runners on in the eighth, catcher Chris Rabago dribbled an infield hit up the third base line to produce a run. Cyr then unleashed a wild pitch before getting the final out of the inning.

The Squirrels managed an insurance run in the top of the ninth, starting with pinch-hitter Matt Lipka getting hit by a pitch. Lipka stole second and came around to score on a Daniel Carbonell sacrifice fly.

Ahead by two in the ninth, Richmond summoned Ray Black to finish the game. Garrett Thompson greeted Black with a single before black struck out the side to earn his third save of the year.

Richmond provided starting pitcher Cory Taylor with a 1-0 lead in the first. Ronnie Jebavy led off the game with a walk and advanced to second via a balk. After Aramis Garcia moved Jebavy to third base with a flyout, Dylan Davis delivered an RBI single into left field.

Craig Schlitter made the start for Hartford, a local product from Guilford, CT. Schlitter filled in for the injured Jack Wynkoop and worked four innings in the spot start. Schlitter allowed two runs on four hits, tossing 64 pitches in the no-decision. He struck out four and walked three.

Taylor (1-0) cruised through the first three innings for Richmond. The righty walked a man in the first and allowed an infield base hit before retiring eight consecutive batters to move the game into the fourth inning. Brian Mundell broke up the eight in a row for Taylor with a base hit to left and Wes Rogers tied the game on a two-run homer just over the left centerfield fence.

The righty Taylor departed with a 7-2 lead after five innings. Taylor allowed two runs on three hits to earn the win. He walked one and struck out three, using 90 pitches.