Richmond makes it seven straight, topping RubberDucks, 5-4, on Saturday night

The Richmond Flying Squirrels topped the Akron RubberDucks, 5-4, on Saturday night to pick up their seventh consecutive win on Saturday night at The Diamond.

The seven-game winning streak for the Flying Squirrels (70-61, 37-25), the Double-A affiliate of the San Francisco Giants, is their longest this season and includes all five games against the RubberDucks (62-69, 27-35), the Double-A affiliate of the Cleveland Guardians, this week.

Saturday’s crowd of 9,320 pushed the Flying Squirrels’ season attendance to 421,972, their highest since 2013.

With the score tied, 4-4, entering the bottom of the eighth, Brady Whalen singled and moved to second on a passed ball. Andy Thomas drove him in with an RBI single to give Richmond a 5-4 lead against Akron reliever Trey Benton (Loss, 1-4).

In the ninth, Tyler Myrick (Win, 2-0) worked around a one-out walk to finish the game.

The Flying Squirrels took a 1-0 lead in the first inning with a solo homer by Ismael Munguia, his second this series and his sixth on the season.

Later in the first, Thomas hit a two-run double to open a 3-0 lead.

Petey Halpin closed the score to 3-1 with a solo homer in the third, the only run allowed over four innings by Richmond starter Hayden Birdsong.

In the bottom of the fourth, Munguia reached on a two-out throwing error, which scored Logan Wyatt and extended the Richmond lead to 4-1.

Akron’s Bryce Ball hit a two-run homer in the top of the fifth and tied the game with a solo homer in the eighth.

Thomas finished the night 2-for-4 with three RBIs.

The Flying Squirrels play their final home game of the 2023 regular season on Sunday afternoon. Right-hander Ryan Murphy (2-8, 4.10) will start for Richmond opposed by Akron right-hander Jack Leftwich (5-7, 5.75). First pitch is scheduled for 1:35 p.m.

Sunday is Fan Appreciation Day at The Diamond presented by Lidl. Fans are invited to play catch on the field before the game from 12:45 p.m.-1:05 p.m. presented by Nesquik. Kids ages 14 and younger can run the bases following the game presented by Richmond Family Magazine.

Tickets are available online at SquirrelsBaseball.com/Tickets, by phone at 804-359-3866 or in person at the Flying Squirrels ticket office.