Ryan Murphy strikes out five, Squirrels top RubberDucks, 4-2, in series opener

Ryan Murphy continued his hot late-season stretch, striking out five in five scoreless innings, to lead the  Richmond Flying Squirrels to a 4-2 victory over the Akron RubberDucks on Tuesday night at The Diamond.

The Flying Squirrels (66-61, 33-25), the Double-A affiliate of the San Francisco Giants, have won four of their last five games and held the RubberDucks (62-65, 27-31), the Double-A affiliate of the Cleveland Guardians, to five hits in the victory.

Murphy (Win, 2-8) iced the RubberDucks offense through five innings and piled five strikeouts. Over his last four outings, Murphy has posted an 0.95 ERA with 16 strikeouts and has not allowed a run over his last two starts.

After Sean Roby notched a leadoff single in the fifth, Victor Bericoto shot an RBI double to right-center field against Akron starter Will Dion (Loss, 2-4) and drove Richmond to a 1-0 advantage.

With two outs in the sixth, Yoshi Tsutsugo blasted a solo home run to right field and gave the Flying Squirrels a 2-0 lead. It was Tsutsugo’s second home run with the Flying Squirrels and his first at The Diamond.

Brady Whalen extended the lead to 4-0 in the bottom of the seventh with a two-run homer to right field against Akron reliever Jack Leftwich.

In his home debut, Hunter Dula struck out three batters over two innings and held the RubberDucks hitless. Evan Gates followed with a pair of strikeouts in a scoreless eighth inning.

Reliever Tyler Myrick allowed a leadoff single and a walk to begin the ninth inning. Bryce Ball scored from third base on a wild pitch and Micael Ramirez notched an RBI single to cut the deficit to 4-2.

Later in the inning with runners at first and third, Myrick induced a game-ending, double play to secure the Richmond win.

The Flying Squirrels continue the homestand on Wednesday night against the RubberDucks with first pitch scheduled for 6:05 p.m. Right-hander Carson Seymour (4-3, 4.07) will make the start for Richmond opposed by Akron right-hander Ross Carver (1-4, 6.75).

Wednesday is the RVA Community Night, celebrating the businesses that make RVA great presented by Cabo Fish Taco. It is also Wine & K-9s where fans can enjoy $5 glasses of wine and $6 wine slushies from 5:00-7:00 p.m. Plus, dogs are admitted free to every Wednesday home game.

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