The Flying Squirrels (20-37) closed out the homestand on Sunday afternoon with a convincing 6-2 victory over the Harrisburg Senators (29-26).
Ricky Oropesa lifted the offense with three hits, including a solo home run in the fifth inning to tie the game, 2-2. Andrew Suarez (2-2) earned the win for Richmond by hurling six innings in his fifth Double-A outing. Tyler Mizenko, Ray Black and Tyler Rogers pitched the final three innings in succession to avoid the series sweep. Richmond collected 14 hits in the win.
Squirrels left-hander Andrew Suarez started the game and needed just seven pitches to retire the side in the first inning. Suarez was close to replicating the feat in the second inning but Spencer Kieboom interrupted his rhythem with a solo home run to leftfield for a 1-0Harrisburg lead.
Richmond riposted and tied the game, 1-1, in the bottom of the second inning againstSenators starting pitcher Austen Williams. Williams hit Jeff Arnold with a pitch and pitcher Andrew Suarez followed with his first professional hit, moving Arnold to third. Myles Schroder then tied the game with a base hit to center. Christian Arroyo added a single to load the bases but Williams limited the damage to just the one run.
Harrisburg responded with a run in the top of the third to retake the lead, 2-1. Rafael Bautista singled, stole second, stole third and scored on sacrifice fly. Suarez then went on to keep Harrisburg quiet in the fourth and again in the fifth.
TheSquirrels eventually broke through against Harrisburg’s Williams with a three-run fifth inning. Ricky Oropesa launched his ninth home run of the season to start the rally and tie the game. Hunter Cole, Tyler Horan and Ali Castillo all singled in succession to take a 3-2 advantage. Jeff Arnold made it a 4-2 contest via a sacrifice fly to left field. Williams was left in the game to finish the fifth and took the loss by allowing four runs on nine hits.
Suarez took the Squirrels through six innings and scattered six hits in is fifth Double-A start. Suarez (2-2) earned the win and allowed just the two runs with a pair of strikeouts. Tyler Mizenko entered to pitch the seventh inning and workedaround a two0out hit to keep the Squirrels lead intact. Mizenko lowered his ERA to 1.77 with the scoreless inning.
RayBlack pitched the eighth inning for Richmond and earned a hold with a pair of strikeouts. Tyler Rogers came on to finish the game in the ninth. Rogers retired all three batters he faced and has still not allowed an earned run in 26 games this year.
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