Richmond falls to Altoona, 12-4: Fourth loss in five games

An early offensive explosion and four multi-run innings by the Altoona Curve buried the Richmond Flying Squirrels in a 12-4 defeat Friday night at Peoples Natural Gas Field.

The Flying Squirrels (21-16) have dropped four of their last five games and have allowed 12 runs in three of the last four contests.

The Curve (17-20) plated two runs in the first inning with an RBI triple from Liover Peguero and an RBI groundout by Brendt Citta.

With a runner at second and two outs in the second inning, Armani Smith ripped a base hit into right field that scored a run and cut the deficit to 2-1. Smith has collected six hits over his first four games at Double-A.

Matt Frazier launched a two-run homer off starter Kai-Wei Teng (Loss, 1-4) to increase the Altoona lead to 4-1 in the bottom of the second inning. Teng allowed a career-high seven runs over 3.2 innings in his start.

Altoona added three runs in the bottom of the fourth to increase the lead to 7-1 with a two-RBI triple from Connor Scott and an RBI single from Nick Gonzales.

Frankie Tostado doubled in the sixth with one out and Shane Matheny brought him home with an RBI single to move the score to 7-2. Matheny’s base hit extended his on-base streak to a team-high 16 consecutive games.

In the sixth inning, the Curve scored five runs against three different Richmond pitchers and extended their advantage to 12-2.

With two runners on in the seventh, Brett Auerbach smacked a two-RBI double that moved the score to 12-4. It was the first double for Auerbach this season.

Curve starter Mike Burrows (Win, 2-0) allowed one run off two hits and two walks with six strikeouts.

Game five of the series on Saturday will start at 4 p.m. from Peoples Natural Gas Field. Right-hander Bryan Brickhouse (1-2, 6.03) will make the start for Richmond opposed by right-hander Luis Ortiz (1-1, 4.85) for the Curve.

The Flying Squirrels return home May 24-29 for a six-game series against the Hartford Yard Goats. Tickets are available online at SquirrelsBaseball.com/Tickets, by phone at 804-359-3866 or in person at the Flying Squirrels ticket office.