Late scoring in the eighth inning prevented a third consecutive win for the Richmond Flying Squirrels as they fell 6-3 to the Hartford Yard Goats Sunday afternoon at Dunkin Donuts Park.
The Flying Squirrels (26-22) won four out of the six games against the Yard Goats (15-33) and went 5-7 over the two-week road trip.
Richmond came out swinging as they took a 1-0 lead in the first inning off a solo home run from David Villar. It was Villar’s 10th home run of the season and his third round-tripper of the series.
Hartford responded with a solo home run of their own from Taylor Snyder in the bottom of the first to even the game, 1-1.
After allowing the home run, Richmond starter Caleb Kilian retired 11 consecutive batters into the fifth inning. He allowed back-to-back base hits with two outs in the fifth but responded with his seventh strikeout to extinguish the Yard Goats’ rally.
The Flying Squirrels took a 3-1 lead in the sixth off a two-run homer from Sandro Fabian against Hartford starter David Hill. Fabian has racked up seven RBIs in the series against the Yard Goats.
The Yard Goats tied the game, 3-3, with an RBI double from Snyder and an RBI single off the bat of Coco Montes, all with one out. Norwith Gudino entered in the inning and allowed a base hit but induced two consecutive pop outs to limit the damage.
After Joey Marciano (Loss, 1-1) left in the eighth inning with the bases loaded and nobody out, Matt Seelinger allowed a sacrifice fly to Wille Abreu and a two-RBI double to Matt McLaughlin that gave Hartford its first lead of the afternoon, 6-3.
Shane Matheny hit a two-out double in the ninth, but Yard Goats reliever Reagan Todd (Save, 1) closed out the game without allowing a run.
Kilian finished the day with 5.1 innings, allowing three runs, six hits and one walk with seven strikeouts. Kilian has now thrown seven or more strikeouts in each of his last three starts.
Hill allowed three runs off six hits in six innings in his second start of the series.
Richmond is off on Monday before starting a six-game series against the Binghamton Rumble Ponies from June 29-July 4. Tuesday’s contest will feature left-hander Phil Pfeifer (0-1, 5.68) as the starter for the Flying Squirrels as the Rumble Ponies have yet to announce their starter.
On June 29, the Flying Squirrels honor the 35th anniversary of the Richmond Braves winning the 1986 International League title with the Governor’s Cup Celebration at The Diamond. Charlie Puleo and Brad Komminsk of the 1986 R-Braves will throw ceremonial first pitches. The first 1,000 fans 15 and older can receive a t-shirt featuring the classic logo for The Diamond presented by Ukrop’s Homestyle Foods. Gates open at 5:30 with a 6:35 p.m. first pitch.
Tickets are available online at SquirrelsBaseball.com/Tickets, by phone at 804-359-3866 or in person at the Flying Squirrels offices.
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Chris Graham
