Late Squirrels comeback falls short in 6-5 series-ending loss to Rumble Ponies

The Richmond Flying Squirrels rallied late but fell short, 6-5, against the Binghamton Rumble Ponies on Sunday afternoon at The Diamond.

All five runs for the Flying Squirrels (55-58, 15-29) came with two outs but they could not complete the comeback and ended the series with a split.

Binghamton (43-70, 15-29) jumped ahead, 2-0, in the first inning off an RBI single from Rowdey Jordan and an RBI groundout.

Nic Gaddis led off the fifth inning with a solo home run against Richmond starter Landen Roupp (Loss, 0-1). Matt Frisbee entered the game and allowed an RBI single to give Binghamton a 4-0 advantage.

The Flying Squirrels answered in the bottom of the fifth when Shane Matheny drove in a run with a single to break the shutout and close the score to 4-1.

With the bases loaded in the seventh inning, Tyler Fitzgerald produced a full-count walk that scored Jacob Heyward from third base and cut the deficit to two runs.

Binghamton extended its lead to 6-2 in the eighth inning off a two-run homer by Carlos Cortes.

Heyward responded with a two-run homer in the bottom of the eighth inning to move the score to 6-4. Heyward finished the afternoon 1-for-2 with two walks, two RBIs and three runs.

Franklin Labour rocketed a leadoff double in the bottom of the ninth and scored off a two-out RBI single from Tristan Peters. Grant Hartwig (Save, 2) struck out two in the inning and induced a groundout to secure the 6-5 Binghamton victory.

Roupp struck out six batters over four innings with four runs allowed in his Double-A debut.

Binghamton reliever Garrison Bryant (Win, 3-1) started the fifth inning and allowed two runs over 2.2 innings.

The Flying Squirrels are off Monday before a six-game road series against the Akron RubberDucks Tuesday through Sunday at Canal Park. Left-hander Kyle Harrison (4-2, 2.56) will make the start for Richmond on Tuesday. Akron has yet to announce its starting pitcher

The team’s next homestand will be Aug. 30 through Sept. 4 against the Harrisburg Senators, Double-A affiliate of the Washington Nationals. Tickets are available at SquirrelsBaseball.com/Tickets, by phone at 804-359-3866 or in person at the Flying Squirrels ticket office.