Carter Aldrete delivered a go-ahead, three-run home run in the top of the ninth inning to break a tie game and send the Richmond Flying Squirrels to a 5-2 win over the Bowie Baysox on Friday night at Prince George’s Stadium.
Both teams totaled five hits on the night. Richmond (62-67, 22-38) has won three-of-the-four games over the series.
Trailing by two runs in the bottom of the eighth inning, Bowie (64-66, 37-24) launched back-to-back solo home runs off Nick Avila (Win, 2-1). Maverick Handley launched his 11th homer of the season for the Baysox third hit of the evening and Chris Givin tied the game, 2-2, with a solo shot.
Griffin McLarty (Loss, 2-4) started the ninth inning with two walks to the first three hitters he faced. Aldrete blasted the second pitch of his at-bat to right-center for a three-run homer to push Richmond to a 5-2 lead.
It was the fourth home run at Double-A for Aldrete and the fifth home run for the Flying Squirrels on the road trip.
Clay Helvey (Save, 1) fired back-to-back strikeouts in a scoreless ninth inning to secure the Richmond win.
With two outs and a runner at first base in the third inning, Tristan Peters crushed an RBI triple to right field and scored Jacob Heyward to give Richmond a 1-0 lead.
Flying Squirrels starter Kyle Harrison struck out seven Baysox hitters over four scoreless innings. Harrison allowed three total baserunners off two walks and one hit but left each runner stranded.
Wil Jensen pitched a 1-2-3 bottom of the fifth inning in his first appearance since being reinstated off the 7-day injured list. Evan Gates struck out two of the three batters he faced in the sixth.
Tyler Fitzgerald reached on a double with one out in the eighth inning, advanced to third and later scored off a pair of wild pitches to give the Flying Squirrels a 2-0 advantage.
Bowie starter Chayce McDermott racked up nine strikeouts in 4.2 innings with one run allowed.
Game five between the Flying Squirrels and the Baysox is Saturday with first pitch scheduled for 7:05 p.m. from Prince George’s Stadium. Right-hander Kai-Wei Teng (5-12, 5.49) will take the hill for Richmond opposed by right-hander Brenan Hanifee (2-1, 4.64) for Bowie.
The team returns to The Diamond for their final regular season homestand against the Erie SeaWolves from Sept. 13-18. Tickets are available online at SquirrelsBaseball.com/Tickets, by phone at 804-359-3866 or in person at the Flying Squirrels ticket office.
The Flying Squirrels will host their first playoff game since 2014 on Thursday, September 22 at The Diamond. Tickets for all potential playoff games in Richmond are on sale now at SquirrelsBaseball.com.
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