Richmond Flying Squirrels break ninth-inning tie, defeat Reading, 3-2

The Richmond Flying Squirrels broke a late tie with a go-ahead run in the top of the ninth and beat the Reading Fightin Phils, 3-2, on Monday night at FirstEnergy Stadium.

The Flying Squirrels (38-37, 5-1), the Double-A affiliate of the San Francisco Giants, took five-of-six in this week’s series against the Fightin Phils (29-45, 1-5), the Double-A affiliate of the Philadelphia Phillies, to open the second half of the season and have now won 11-of-their-last-13 games.

With the score tied, 2-2, entering the ninth, Marco Luciano led off the inning with a single against Reading reliever Tyler McKay (Loss, 2-3).The next batter, Brandon Martorano, was hit by a pitch, which led to the benches clearing and his ejection.

When play resumed, Andy Thomas reached on a bunt single to load the bases with no outs. McKay struck out Carter Williams, but during the next at-bat, Luciano scored on a wild pitch to give the Flying Squirrels a 3-2 lead.

In the bottom of the ninth, Nick Podkul reached on a two-out walk and advanced to second on a passed ball, but Juan Sanchez (Win, 5-4) struck out Carlos De La Cruz to end the game.

The Fightin Phils struck first with a solo homer by Johan Rojas in the bottom of the first inning.

Richmond tied the score, 1-1, with a solo homer by Hayden Cantrelle in the top of the fourth.

Martorano gave the Flying Squirrels a 2-1 lead in the top of the fifth with an RBI single.

Podkul tied the game, 2-2, with a solo home run in the bottom of the seventh, the only run allowed over three innings by reliever Wil Jensen.

Richmond starter Ryan Murphy allowed one run over 3.2 innings with four strikeouts.

The Flying Squirrels return home on Tuesday night to face the Bowie Baysox, the Double-A affiliate of the Baltimore Orioles, for their annual Independence Day celebration, which is sold out. Right-hander Carson Seymour (0-1, 3.43) will start for the Flying Squirrels, opposed by Baysox right-hander Peter Van Loon (2-4, 5.71). First pitch is scheduled for 6:35 p.m. at The Diamond.

Tickets are available for the remaining five games of the Flying Squirrels upcoming homestand from Wednesday through Sunday, including In-Your-Face fireworks on Thursday and Friday, online at SquirrelsBaseball.com/Tickets, by phone at 804-359-3866 (FUNN) or in person at the Flying Squirrels ticket office.