The Richmond Flying Squirrels (42-31) improved to 12-0 on Sundays and swept the Erie SeaWolves (31-42) with a, 7-3, victory at Jerry Uht Park on Sunday afternoon. Richmond closes their road trip at a record of 3-3 and return to a high-water mark of 11 games above .500. The Squirrels have won six straight against Erie.
Left-hander Kelvin Marte retired the first four batters that he faced. However, Steven Moya, the fifth man to the plate, gave Erie a 1-0 lead. He decked a 2-2 changeup from Marte well over the right-field wall. It marked Moya’s second home run of the series and 16th of the season.
The SeaWolves added a run to their lead in the third. Marcus Lemon led off and slapped a double to left field. An out later, Jason Krizan drilled an RBI double off the wall in left-center field. Lemon came around for a 2-0 Erie advantage.
Erie righty Jeff Ferrell held the Squirrels down through the first three innings, but Matt Duffy sparked the offense with a lead-off triple in the fourth. An out later, jarrett parker rifled a double into the right-field corner to bring in the first run of the day for Richmond.
With two outs in the top of the fifth inning, the Squirrels offense suddenly erupted against Ferrell. Skyler Stromsmoe triggered the uprising with a single to right field. Ryan Lollis followed with a single before Duffy tied the game, 2-2, when he pulled a single through the hole on the left-side of the infield. Mario Lisson then stepped in and clubbed a three-run home run onto the roof of Erie Insurance Arena to give the Squirrels a 5-2 lead. Parker sparked things anew when he followed Lisson’s blast with another double to the right-field corner. Ricky Oropesa followed and blistered an RBI double to center field for a 6-2 lead. All told, the Squirrels had strung together six consecutive two-out hits.
Ferrell (4-6) was lifted to the loss following the fifth. He allowed six earned runs on nine hits, walked one and struck out four.
The SeaWolves got one run back from Marte in the bottom of the fifth inning. Jamie Johnson tripled with one out and was knocked in when Krizan grounded out.
Marte (6-2) ultimately turned in a quality start, working six innings and allowing three earned runs on seven hits. He walked none and struck out five, earning his fifth consecutive winning decision.
Right-hander Jose Casilla then worked two scoreless innings of relief. Righty Andrew Carignan then had no trouble in working a perfect ninth inning to close out the win.
The Squirrels return to Richmond, VA, on Monday to open a three-game series with the Harrisburg Senators (Washington Nationals). The opener of the series is scheduled for 6:35 p.m. at The Diamond. Richmond LHP Ty Blach (4-4, 2.79) will make the start. Harrisburg has yet to declare a starting pitcher for the opener of the series. The Flying Squirrels Pregame Warmup begins at 6:05 p.m. on Sports Radio 910 and SportsRadio910.com.
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Chris Graham
