Curve hold off Flying Squirrels in series opener

The Richmond Flying Squirrels dropped the first game of the homestand, 4-1, against the Altoona Curve Tuesday night at The Diamond.

The Flying Squirrels (15-10) outhit the Curve (15-9), 7-6, but stranded 10 on base, including twice leaving the bases loaded.

Altoona took a 1-0 lead in the first with a sacrifice fly by Mason Martin against Richmond starting pitcher Gerson Garabito (Loss, 0-2).

The Curve added to their lead in the sixth inning courtesy of an RBI double from Rodolfo Castro that scored Ji-Hwan Bae to make it 2-0.

Curve catcher Arden Pabst doubled the Altoona lead in the seventh off a two-run homer to left field against Mac Marshall, pulling ahead, 4-0.

Richmond broke the shutout in the seventh inning thanks to an RBI double from Sandro Fabian, who came into the ballgame as a pinch-hitter, cutting the deficit to 4-1.

Garabito pitched 5.0 innings, allowing three hits and one run while producing a season-high six strikeouts.

Raffi Vizcaíno struck out the side in order in the eighth inning to bring his strikeout total this season to 10 over 7.0 innings pitched.

Altoona starter Roansy Contreras (Win 3-1) pitched 6.0 scoreless innings with four hits allowed and struck out eight Flying Squirrels.

The Flying Squirrels take on the Altoona Curve for game two of the series Wednesday afternoon for the Business Person’s Special presented by Enterprise Rent-A-Car at The Diamond. First pitch is at 12:05 p.m. with gates opening at 11:00 a.m. Right-hander Trenton Toplikar (0-0, 2.08) will start for Richmond opposed by right-hander Travis MacGregor (0-1, 2.63) for Altoona.

Tickets are available online at SquirrelsBaseball.com/Tickets, by phone at 804-359-3866 or in person at the Flying Squirrels offices.