The Richmond Flying Squirrels went deep three times in the bottom of the eighth, propelling them to a 5-3 series-finale win over the Akron RubberDucks on Sunday at The Diamond.
The Flying Squirrels (20-18), the Double-A affiliate of the San Francisco Giants, moved back into first place in the Southwest Division, and split this week’s six-game series against the RubberDucks (19-19).
Marco Luciano, the #2 prospect in the Giants farm system, led off the frame with a solo homer, his fourth of the year., to tie the score, 3-3.
Two batters later, Carter Aldrete homered to center to give the Flying Squirrels a 4-3 lead against Akron reliever Zach Hart.
After a pitching change, Andy Thomas launched a solo homer to right-center, extending the lead to 5-3.
Richmond reliever Raymond Burgos stranded the bases loaded in the top of the ninth to end the game.
The RubberDucks took a 2-0 lead in the top of the first inning with a two-out, two-run homer by Johnathan Rodriguez against Richmond starter Mason Black.
Black, the #10 prospect in the Giants system, worked four innings and allowed two runs with five strikeouts on the day.
In the bottom of the first, Aldrete brought in a run with a groundout and Thomas followed with a two-out RBI single to tie the game, 2-2.
Juan Sanchez took over to start the fifth inning and threw 1.2 scoreless frames with three strikeouts.
The Flying Squirrels open a six-game series in Binghamton on Tuesday morning. First pitch is scheduled for 11:05 a.m. at Mirabito Stadium. Right-hander Kai-Wei Teng (0-2, 2.93) will be on the mound for Richmond.
Following the road trip, the Flying Squirrels for 12 straight home games from May 30-June 11. Tickets are available online at SquirrelsBaseball.com/Tickets, by phone at 804-359-FUNN (3866) or in person at the Flying Squirrels ticket office.
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Chris Graham
