The Richmond Flying Squirrels (49-57) erupted in the early going and then rode a brilliant performance from left-hander Chris Gloor to a 9-4 win over the Akron Aeroes (52-54) in front of a sellout crowd at Canal Park on Friday night.
Gloor (8-5) was sensational over eight innings, matching his career-high while earning his eighth win. He conceded just two runs on four hits, walked one and struck out seven.
The Squirrels came out swinging against Akron right-hander Brett Brach, plating three first-inning runs on five hits. Ryan Lollis opened the ballgame with a single, and an out later, Adam Duvall singled as well. Andrew Susac pulled a single through the left-side of the infield to bring in Lollis for a 1-0 lead. Angel Villalona bounced into a fielder’s choice, but Brett Krill and Jarrett Parker notched back-to-back RBI singles to push the lead to 3-0.
Richmond was right back at it in the second inning as Skyler Stromsmoe led off with a double into the right-field corner. Lollis followed with a single to put runners at the corners with nobody out. Brach recovered to record the first two outs of the inning, but Susac muscled a two-run single into right field for a 5-0 lead. After two turns offensively, both Lollis and Susac had two hits. Susac had also knocked in three runs.
Gloor worked through a clean first inning, but Jesus Aguilar opened the second with a single. Carlos Moncrief followed and decked a two-run home run to right-center field. His team-leading 14th home run of the season trimmed the Richmond lead to three runs, 5-2.
Brach opened the door for the Squirrels to replace the runs in the third as he hit the first batters of the inning. Two outs later, Lollis stepped in and flared his third single of the night to left-center field. It scored two runs, extending the Squirrels’ lead back to five runs, 7-2.
Brach (6-7) lasted five innings and took the loss. He surrendered seven earned runs on nine hits. He walked one, hit three more and registered two strikeouts.
Richmond collected two more runs without the benefit of a hit in the seventh inning. Rob Bryson and Enosil Tejeda combined to issue four walks in the frame. Parker scored on a wild pitch and Stromsmoe came home on a sacrifice fly from Duvall. The runs were charged to Bryson as the Squirrels took a 9-2 lead.
The Aeros crunched back-to-back home runs off right-hander Omar Javier in the ninth inning to cap the scoring. Cedric Hunter and Aguilar each delivered a solo-home run before righty Cody Hall came on and finished the ballgame without further incident.
Game three of the four-game series is scheduled for 7:05 p.m. on Saturday night at Canal Park. Richmond RHP Craig Westcott (4-9, 3.84) will make the start against Akron RHP Will Roberts (6-7, 4.39). The Flying Squirrels Pregame Warmup will begin at 6:35 p.m. on Sports Radio 910, SportsRadio910.com and IHeart Radio.
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Chris Graham
