The Flying Squirrels (35-37, 2-1), the Double-A affiliate of the San Francisco Giants, lost their first game against the Fightin Phils (29-42, 1-2), the Double-A affiliate of the Philadelphia Phillies, this season and saw their season-long six-game win streak end.
Wade Meckler led off the ballgame with a base hit and Marco Luciano drove him home with an RBI double to center field, pushing the Flying Squirrels to a 1-0 lead in the first.
In the top of the fourth, Logan Wyatt extended the Richmond advantage to 2-0 with an RBI single against Reading starter Griff McGarry.
Matthew Kroon broke the shutout in the fifth inning with an RBI double to move the score to 2-1. It was the only run Juan Sanchez allowed over 1.2 innings.
Wyatt led off the seventh with a solo home run to pad the Flying Squirrels’ advantage to 3-1. Wyatt has homered in back-to-back games against the Fightin Phils and has stacked six RBIs on the road trip.
The Flying Squirrels went hitless against Brett Schulze (Win, 4-5) in the top of the seventh and the eighth innings.
Reading responded with a four-run bottom of the eighth inning to capture a 5-3 lead. Oliver Dunn cut the deficit to one run with an RBI single and Nick Podkul rocketed a three-run homer against Richmond reliever Nick Zwack (Loss, 4-5).
Reading reliever Tyler McKay (Save, 4) allowed a leadoff single to lead off the ninth but worked a double play and a flyout to secure the Reading victory.
Richmond starter Landen Roupp tied a season high with seven strikeouts over 3.1 hitless innings against the Fightin Phils.
The Flying Squirrels continue the series against the Fightin Phils Saturday night with first pitch set for 6:45 p.m. Right-hander Mason Black (0-4, 4.00) will make the start for Richmond opposed by Reading left-hander David Parkinson (2-3, 5.57).