Richmond’s bats finally wake up, as Squirrels take series finale at Altoona, 13-4

The Richmond Flying Squirrels scored 11 runs in the final three innings to beat the Altoona Curve, 13-4, on Sunday afternoon at Peoples Natural Gas Field.

Richmond (52-50, 19-14), the Double-A affiliate of the San Francisco Giants, won the series finale over the Curve (48-50, 14-16), the Double-A affiliate of the Pittsburgh Pirates, to maintain the first place in the Southwest Division standings.

In the top of the seventh inning with the score tied, 2-2, Richmond loaded the bases with no outs. A wild pitch by Altoona reliever Michell Miliano (Loss, 0-1) plated Victor Bericoto to give the Flying Squirrels the lead. Shane Matheny followed with a two-run double and later scored on a wild pitch to open a 6-2 lead.

Altoona answered in the bottom of the seventh with an RBI single by Jackson Glenn and a sacrifice fly by Tsung-Che Cheng to close the score to 6-4.

In the eighth, Brandon Martorano hit an RBI double and Jimmy Glowenke added a bases-loaded walk to extend the lead to 8-4.

Martorano hit a three-run triple and Glowenke hit a two-run double in a five-run ninth inning to cap the scoring for the afternoon.

Sam Delaplane (Win, 1-1) threw 1.1 scoreless innings out of the Richmond bullpen. Tyler Myrick allowed one hit and struck out two in the eighth and ninth to finish the game.

The Curve took a 1-0 lead in the first inning with a solo homer by Glenn. In the third, Cheng plated a run with a bunt single to extend the Altoona lead to 2-0.

Richmond rallied to even the score, 2-2, in the fourth inning. Brady Whalen brought home Matheny with a double and later scored on an Altoona error.

Martorano went 2-for-4 with a triple, a double, three RBIs and scored two runs. Glowenke had two hits, including a double, and picked up four RBIs.

The Flying Squirrels open a six-game series against the Bowie Baysox, Double-A affiliate of the Baltimore Orioles, on Tuesday at The Diamond. Right-hander Carson Seymour (2-2, 3.81) will be on the hill for Richmond. First pitch is set for 6:35 p.m.

Tuesday is Salute to the Peanut Night and the first 1,000 fans ages 15 and older will take home a Ceramic Peanut Mug presented by the Virginia Peanut Growers Association. Tickets are available online at SquirrelsBaseball.com/Tickets, by phone at 804-359-FUNN (3866) or in person at the Flying Squirrels ticket office.