Flying Squirrels shut out Senators in series opener

Solid pitching from the Richmond Flying Squirrels factored to a 4-0 shutout win over the Harrisburg Senators on Tuesday night at The Diamond.

The Flying Squirrels (18-13) have won three of their last five games with the series-opening victory against the Senators (10-20).

Vince Fernandez started the scoring for the Flying Squirrels in the fifth inning with a solo home run to center that put Richmond ahead, 1-0.

Fernandez is now tied with David Villar for the team lead with five home runs.

Richmond followed up with an RBI single from Andres Angulo that scored Heliot Ramos from second and boosted the Flying Squirrels lead to 2-0 in the sixth inning.

The Flying Squirrels made it a 4-0 lead in the seventh inning courtesy of a two-RBI double from Sandro Fabian as a pinch hitter. Fabian has collected seven hits and five RBIs over his last five games.

Flying Squirrels starter Trenton Toplikar (Win, 1-1) had his longest start of the season with 6.0 scoreless innings, allowing six hits, and collected six strikeouts. Toplikar stranded seven base runners in his first four innings before retiring the final eight batters he faced.

The trio of Raffi Vizcaíno, Joey Marciano and Jose Marte finished the shutout with a combined 3.0 innings and allowed one baserunner.

Harrisburg starter Mario Sanchez (Loss, 1-4) went 6.0 innings, allowing four hits, two runs and one walk with a season-high nine strikeouts.

The Flying Squirrels take on the Senators Wednesday night with a first pitch scheduled for 6:35 p.m. Right-hander Caleb Kilian (3-0, 1.76) is scheduled to start for Richmond opposed by left-handed pitcher Carlos Teel (1-2, 3.55) for Harrisburg.

Wednesday is a Salute to Dogs With Jobs, honoring all service dogs, at The Diamond. Dogs are admitted free every Wednesday home game. Please request a dog-friendly section if accompanied by a pet. First pitch is at 6:35 p.m. with gates opening at 5:30 p.m.  It is also Wine and K-9s night where fans can enjoy five-dollar glasses of wine from 5:30-7:30 p.m.

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