Behind a season-high 11 strikeouts by Kai-Wei Teng and a pair of homers, the Richmond Flying Squirrels notched a 6-1 victory over the Portland Sea Dogs on Friday night at The Diamond.
The win kept the Flying Squirrels (39-28) one game behind first-place Akron in the Southwest Division standings with two games left to play in the season’s first half.
Teng (Win, 4-5) fired his 11 strikeouts over a season-best 6.1 innings and took a no-hitter into the seventh inning.
After Portland starter Brett Kennedy (Loss, 1-3) issued back-to-back walks in the third, Shane Matheny drove an RBI double to left field and Franklin Labour scored from second to give Richmond a 1-0 advantage.
With two outs and runners at second and third in the fourth inning, Mike Gigliotti hammered a three-run homer to right field and pushed the lead to 4-0. It was Gigliotti’s sixth home run of the year and his fourth in the month of June.
After Teng loaded the bases on three walks in the fifth inning, a Richmond fielding error scored Tyreque Reed from third base and Portland (29-38) closed the score to 4-1.
Frankie Tostado upped the Richmond advantage to 6-1 in the bottom of the fifth with a two-run homer, his 10th of the season. It was the 24th home run for Tostado over two seasons with the Flying Squirrels, moving him into a tie for fourth in career home runs in franchise history with teammate Jacob Heyward.
Taylor Rashi, Ryan Walker and Chris Wright worked the final 2.2 innings without allowing a run. Walker fired two strikeouts in the eighth inning. Wright stranded runners at second and third in the ninth inning to close out the victory.
On Saturday, the Flying Squirrels are calling all Marvel fans for Defenders of The Diamond Night. Fans are encouraged to dress as their favorite heroes and the team will be wearing specialty Captain America jerseys that will be auctioned off to benefit Flying Squirrels Charities. Plus, fans can enjoy In-Your-Face Fireworks after the game. Gates open at 5 p.m. with first pitch scheduled for 6:05 p.m.
Right-hander Bryan Brickhouse (5-4, 4.50) will start for Richmond opposed by left-hander Chris Murphy (3-5, 2.80) for the Sea Dogs.
Tickets are available online at SquirrelsBaseball.com/Tickets, by phone at 804-359-3866 or at the Flying Squirrels ticket office.
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