Richmond offense goes deep five times, passing single-season franchise homer record

The Richmond Flying Squirrels homered five times and beat the New Hampshire Fisher Cats, 19-1, in the series finale at Delta Dental Stadium on Sunday afternoon.

The Flying Squirrels (51-50, 11-21) worked a series split with the Fisher Cats (47-55, 16-17) in the six-game set.

Richmond opened the game with seven runs in the top of the first inning. Brett Auerbach started the scoring with a double to bring in two runs against New Hampshire starter Luis Quinones (Loss, 0-3).

After three walks loaded the bases, Riley Mahan clubbed a grand slam against Fisher Cats reliever Braden Scott to extend the lead to 7-0.

Mahan’s homer was the 128th of the season for the Flying Squirrels, which set a new single-season franchise record. The previous mark of 127 was set in 2021.

Armani Smith extended the lead to 8-0 in the in the second inning with an RBI double.

In the third, Tyler Fitzgerald clubbed a two-run homer, his 18th of the year, pushing the lead to 10-0.

Richmond starter Jake Dahlberg (Win, 5-7) pitched five scoreless innings and struck out five. He combined for 10 scoreless innings of work in his two starts in the series.

Carter Aldrete hit a solo home run in the seventh inning, his third homer of the series, to stretch Richmond’s lead to 11-0.

In eighth, Brandon Martorano scored on a throwing error Auerbach followed with a two-run homer to open a 14-0 lead for the Flying Squirrels.

New Hampshire broke the shutout in the bottom of the eighth inning. Addison Barger brought home Zach Britton with a groundout to close the gap to 14-1.

The Flying Squirrels piled on five runs in the ninth inning to take a 19-1 lead. Jacob Heyward hit a solo homer, Tristan Peters worked a bases-loaded walk, Auerbach hit a two-run double and Sean Roby added a sacrifice fly.

Auerbach finished the game 4-for-6 with a homer, three doubles, three runs scored and six RBIs.

After a day off on Monday, the Flying Squirrels begin a six-game series in Portland against the Sea Dogs on Tuesday night. Right-hander Wil Jensen (1-1, 3.68) will take the mound for the Flying Squirrels.

Following this 12-game road trip, the Flying Squirrels return to The Diamond for a six-game series against the Binghamton Rumble Ponies from August 16-21. Tickets are available online at SquirrelsBaseball.com/Tickets, by phone at 804-359-3866 or in person at the Flying Squirrels ticket office.