Squirrels hold Fightin Phils to two hits in 4-0 victory

A two-hit shutout performance from Richmond’s pitching staff pushed the Flying Squirrels to a 4-0 win in the series finale against the Reading Fightin Phils Sunday night at FirstEnergy Stadium.

Richmond (15-9) pitchers allowed just three baserunners in the game, holding the Fightin Phils (4-20) off the bases entirely from the second through the seventh innings.

Flying Squirrels’ starter Matt Frisbee (Win, 4-1) dazzled in his fifth Double-A start, allowing one hit, and tied a season high with eight strikeouts. After allowing a leadoff single to begin the game, Frisbee retired 21 straight batters through 7.0 innings, the longest outing by a Richmond pitcher this year.

Richmond started the scoring in the first inning with an RBI single by Andy Sugilio to take a 1-0 lead.

With runners on first and third in the second, Bryan Torres stole second base and Kyle Mottice sprinted to the plate on the throw to score Richmond’s second run. Mottice has a team-leading four stolen bases on the season.

With the bases loaded in the eighth, Mottice bounced a run-scoring fielder’s choice and a Reading throwing error allowed Jacob Heyward to score, widening the Flying Squirrels’ lead to 4-0.

In his second Double-A appearance, reliever Jose Marte pitched the eighth and allowed one walk with two strikeouts. Norwith Gudino allowed one baserunner, a pop-up on the infield ruled as a double, in the ninth to close the game.

Reading starter Francisco Morales (Loss, 0-4) pitched 3.0 innings, allowing four hits, two runs (one earned) and one walk with six strikeouts.

The Flying Squirrels return to The Diamond from June 1 through June 13 for a 12-game homestand against the Altoona Curve and the Harrisburg Senators. Gerson Garabito (0-1, 6.75) is expected to start for Richmond opposed by Roansy Contreras (2-1, 2.08) for Altoona on Tuesday. First pitch is at 6:35 p.m.

The home series begin Tuesday with the Johnny Cashew bobbleracer giveaway presented by Pepsi, followed by a 12:05 p.m. “Business Person’s Special” presented by Enterprise Rent-A-Car on Wednesday afternoon.

Tickets for all games of the upcoming homestand are available online at SquirrelsBaseball.com/Tickets, by phone at 804-359-3866 or in person at the Flying Squirrels offices.