Squirrels sink Erie Seawolves in Tuesday series opener

With Shane Mathney’s multi-hit and multi-RBI performance along with a strong bullpen outing, the Richmond Flying Squirrels secured their 13th come-from-behind win of the year with a 6-4 victory over the Erie SeaWolves on Tuesday night at The Diamond.

Four relievers were used by Richmond (29-23) in the game. Trenton Toplikar (Win, 2-0), Ryan Walker and R.J. Dabovich (Save, 4) each worked scoreless outings, combing for five strikeouts. The Flying Squirrels have won seven of their last 10 games.

With a 3-3 tie in the fifth, Brett Auerbach doubled and Frankie Tostado drove him home off an RBI single into right and gave Richmond a 4-3 advantage.

Mike Gigliotti increased the Richmond lead to 5-3 with a solo home run in the seventh. It was the third home run of the year for Gigliotti, who worked two walks in a 1-for-2 performance.

The SeaWolves (30-22) cut the deficit to 5-4 when Luis Carpio bounced an RBI single against Taylor Rashi in the eighth inning. Dabovich entered in the eighth with two runners on and two outs and fired a strikeout to escape the jam.

With runners at first and second in the bottom of the eighth, Shane Matheny gave the Flying Squirrels a 6-4 lead with an RBI single. Matheny finished the night with two hits, two RBIs and one walk in his first game back off the 7-day injured list.

Dylan Rosa launched a home run on the second pitch of the game to give the SeaWolves a 1-0 lead in the first inning.

In the second inning, Rosa upped the Erie advantage to 2-0 with an RBI single against Richmond starter Kai-Wei Teng.

Richmond captured a 3-2 lead in the bottom of the second inning with three runs off three hits. With runners at first and third, Matheny shot an RBI single to right field to score the first run for the Flying Squirrels. Later in the inning with the bases loaded, Auerbach drove in two runs off a single and jumped the Flying Squirrels to a one-run lead.

Erie evened the score, 3-3, when Kerry Carpenter hit a solo home run, his 20th homer of the year, in the top of the third. Carpenter is the first player in the Eastern League to reach 20 home runs this year.

Reese Olson (Loss, 3-3) gave up four runs off six hits and two walks with six strikeouts in his start for the SeaWolves.

Wednesday is Dress Like Your Dog Day presented by River City Roll, where fans are encouraged to twin with their furry friends. It is also Wine & K-9s. Dogs are admitted free in Funnville every Wednesday home game and fans can enjoy five-dollar glasses of wine from 5:30-7:30 p.m. First pitch is scheduled for 6:35 p.m. at The Diamond. Right-hander Bryan Brickhouse (3-3, 6.00) will start for Richmond opposed by right-hander Chance Kirby (5-1, 1.29) for the SeaWolves.

Right-handed pitcher Kai-Wei Teng (2-5, 5.32) will get the start for the Flying Squirrels on Tuesday opposed by right-hander Reese Olson (3-2, 3.20) for the SeaWolves.

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