A go-ahead RBI double from Diego Rincones and Brett Auerbach’s heads-up baserunning in the ninth inning pushed the Richmond Flying Squirrels to a 5-3 win over the Altoona Curve Wednesday afternoon at Peoples Natural Gas Field.
The Flying Squirrels (46-37, 6-8) used five pitchers during the ballgame with four relievers tossing 7.2 scoreless innings. It was Richmond’s third straight win.
Tied, 3-3, in the ninth inning, Franklin Labour smacked a leadoff double to left field and Mike Gigliotti pushed him to third base on a sacrifice bunt. After Brett Auerbach reached on a fielder’s choice, Diego Rincones lined a go-ahead RBI double against Tyler Samaniego (Loss, 1-2) to right field and the Flying Squirrels pushed ahead 4-3.
In the next at-bat, Auerbach scored from third base during a rundown and gave the Flying Squirrels a two-run advantage.
Cole Waites (Save, 3) posted two strikeouts out of four batters faced in the bottom of the ninth inning to end the game.
Richmond opened the scoring in the first inning when Armani Smith lofted a sacrifice fly to right field to open a 1-0 lead. Smith has collected at least one RBI in each of his past three games.
Altoona (41-42, 8-6) struck back with three runs in the second inning to take a 3-1 advantage. Fabricio Macias punched a two-RBI double and Matt Fraizer lined an RBI single to center field.
In the top of the third, Rincones drove in a run from third with a groundout and Shane Matheny evened the score, 3-3, with an RBI single.
Richmond starter Trenton Toplikar allowed three runs off two hits and two walks with one strikeout in his first start of the season. Reliever Ty Weber covered 3.1 innings without surrendering a run and struck out two Altoona batters.
John Russell worked 2.1 scoreless innings. Chris Wright (Win, 2-0) allowed a pair of hits in the eighth inning, but held the Curve scoreless with two strikeouts.
Curve starter Kyle Nicolas pitched 2.2 innings with three runs (two earned) off four hits and three walks.
The Flying Squirrels continue the series against the Curve Wednesday night with a first pitch scheduled for 6 p.m. Left-hander Jake Dahlberg (3-5, 4.14) will make the start for Richmond opposed by right-hander Aaron Shortridge (0-0, 6.75) for Altoona.
The Flying Squirrels will return home on Friday, July 22, for the first of three games against the Bowie Baysox at The Diamond. On Friday, the first 1,000 fans ages 21 and older will go home with a Patriotic Beer Belt presented by Bud Light, perfect for any summer BBQ. It is also Funnville Friday Happy Hour from 5:30-7:30 p.m. where fans can enjoy two-dollar 12-ounce domestic beers at all concession stands and two-dollar sodas at the Pepsi Fountain. First pitch on Friday, July 22 is scheduled for 6:35 p.m.
Tickets are available at SquirrelsBaseball.com/Tickets, by phone at 804-359-3866 or in person at the Flying Squirrels ticket office.
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