Squirrels skunked in Reading

The Reading Fighting Phils (50-30) completed a four-game sweep over Richmond on Monday, defeating the Flying Squirrels (33-49) 8-3 at FirstEnergy Stadium. Reading pulled away by batting around in a five-run, sixth inning. The Squirrels lost five consecutive games to close out the eight-game road trip. Richmond will return to The Diamond for three games filled with Independence Day festivities. Tuesday, July 4 is sold out at The Diamond, however, tickets are still available for Wednesday and Thursday. A full rundown of promotions can be found here. Gates open at 5 p.m. on Tuesday.

Cory Taylor stared the finale in Reading for Richmond and utilized his two seam fastball early and often. Taylor faced just one batter over the minimum in the first three innings, picking up seven early ground ball outs

Richmond grabbed a 1-0 lead off of Reading starting pitcher Cole Irvin in the top of the fourth inning. With two outs, Dylan Davis launched a solo home run deep over the right field wall. It was Davis’ fifth home run of the season and first of the series.

The Squirrels lead was short-lived as Reading rallied for a pair of runs in the bottom of the fourth. Angelo Mora began the inning with a base hit and Carlos Tocci reached on a walk. A wild pitch advanced both runners into scoring position, allowing Kyle Martin’s groundout to second to tie the game, 1-1. Jiandido Tromp then added an RBI base hit for a 2-1 advantage. Taylor used 29 pitches in the inning and was at 71 pitches overall after the fourth.

Taylor pitched into the sixth, but did not record an out in the inning. Reading struck for five runs, sending 11 batters to the plate to take a 7-1 lead. Tocci opened the inning with his second home run in as many games and Kyle Martin and Tromp followed with base hits to chase Taylor. Vic Black relieved Taylor and yielded a three-run home run on his first pitch to Mitch Walding. It was Walding’s league-leading 20th homer of the season and first of the season. Black walked three and allowed another run before striking out Martin to end the inning.

Taylor (2-7) suffered the loss in his 14th start of the year. The righty allowed five runs on eight hits. He walked one and did not strike out a batter in the loss.

Irvin (2-0) lasted seven innings in his second Double-A start to earn the win. C.J. Hinojosa clobbered a two-run homer off of Irvin in his final inning. The lefty allowed three runs on eight hits. He walked one and struck out three.