Fitzgerald, Labour smack three-run homers in Richmond Flying Squirrels victory

Off a steady pitching performance and a pair of multi-run homers, the Richmond Flying Squirrels defeated the Somerset Patriots, 8-1, Friday night at The Diamond.

Richmond (48-46, 8-17) used five pitchers in the shutout, holding the Patriots (59-35, 15-10) to four hits and posted 12 strikeouts. The win broke a three-game losing streak for the Flying Squirrels.

Kyle Harrison turned in three scoreless innings in his start, working around three walks and three hits with five strikeouts. Taylor Rashi (Win, 1-1) and Chris Wright each struck out three batters with two-inning appearances. Ryan Walker tossed a scoreless eighth inning and Jorge Guzman made his first appearance for the Flying Squirrels.

Richmond pushed ahead, 1-0, in the first inning off an RBI single from Brett Auerbach that brought Michael Gigliotti home from third base.

In the bottom of the second inning, Tyler Fitzgerald propelled a three-run homer to left-center and upped the Richmond advantage to 4-0. It was Fitzgerald’s 16th home run of the season and his sixth home run over his last 12 games.

Fitzgerald was hit by a pitch to lead off the seventh, stole second base and advanced to third on a groundout. Auerbach crossed him home with a sacrifice fly to left field and moved the Richmond lead to 5-0.

Franklin Labour widened the lead to 8-0 in the sixth inning with a three-run homer to left field, his seventh home run of the season.

With runners at first and third in the ninth inning, Anthony Volpe poked a sacrifice fly to right field to break the shutout and close the score to 8-1.

Somerset starter Will Warren (Loss, 6-3) allowed four runs, four walks and three hits over four innings.

The Flying Squirrels continue the homestand Saturday with a first pitch scheduled for 6:05 p.m. Right-hander Kai-Wei Teng (5-7, 5.44) will make the start for Richmond opposed by right-hander Sean Boyle (7-4, 4.02) for Somerset. The team will host Marvel Super Hero Night at The Diamond with a special appearance from Black Panther and the first 1,500 fans ages 15 and older will receive a mini Black Panther bobblehead presented by Richmond Area Honda Dealers.

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