The Richmond Flying Squirrels were held to five hits in a 2-0 shutout loss to the Akron RubberDucks on Saturday night at Canal Park.
The Flying Squirrels (48-82, 25-38) fell back into last place in the second-half standings with the loss to the RubberDucks (59-72, 25-37), their third consecutive loss.
Akron scored the game’s only two runs in the fifth inning. Former University of Virginia infielder Ernie Clement clubbed an RBI single and later scored on a double Nolan Jones.
The Flying Squirrels reached base with their first three batters of the game, but two separate base-stealing attempts were thrown out in the inning. The Richmond offense only had three hits the rest of the night, including two by Ryan Howard.
Richmond starter Ryan Halstead (Loss, 2-6) allowed two runs over a career-high-tying 5.0 innings of work.
In the fifth, Richmond worked a pair of two-out walks to chase Akron starter Sam Hentges, but David Speer (Win, 3-3) worked out of the inning without allowing a run.
Howard foul off a pair of two-strike pitches before reaching on a two-out single in the top of the ninth, bringing the potential tying run to the plate, but Akron reliever Ben Krauth (Save, 1) struck out Gio Brusa to end the game.
The Flying Squirrels aim to avoid a four-game sweep in the series finale on Sunday afternoon at Canal Park. RHP Brandon Lawson (5-8, 3.56) will start for Richmond, opposed by Akron lefty Tanner Tully (7-11, 4.72). First pitch is scheduled for 2:05 p.m.
Following an eight-game road trip, the Flying Squirrels return to The Diamond on Friday, August 30, to begin the final homestand of the season, featuring four games against the Bowie Baysox.
For tickets or more information, call 804-359-3866 (FUNN), visit SquirrelsBaseball.com/Tickets or stop by the Flying Squirrels box office.
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Chris Graham
