Squirrels win series opener at Hartford, 7-1

Three multi-run innings and a strong start from Caleb Kilian captured a 7-1 win for the Richmond Flying Squirrels over the Hartford Yard Goats Tuesday night at Dunkin’ Donuts Park.

The Flying Squirrels (23-20) topped the Yard Goats (13-30) in the first game of this week’s six-game road series.

Killian (Win, 2-0) allowed one unearned run over 6.0 innings on four hits with no walks and eight strikeouts for his third consecutive quality start. The right-hander allowed two baserunners through the first 5.0 innings of his start.

After rain delayed first pitch, the Flying Squirrels’ bats erupted early. Through the first three innings, Richmond collected six hits, including a two-run homer from David Villar in the third inning that put the Flying Squirrels ahead, 2-0.

It was Villar’s eighth home run on the season and his third round-tripper in his last five ballgames.

With runners at first and third in the fifth, Bruce Maxwell skied a sacrifice fly to bring home Heliot Ramos and pushed Richmond’s lead to 3-0. Later in the inning, the Flying Squirrels’ lead grew to 5-0 courtesy of a two-RBI double from Frankie Tostado against Yard Goats starter David Hill (Loss, 0-1).

Hartford broke the shutout in the sixth inning. With two outs, a throwing error by Villar brought Jameson Hannah home from second base to make the score 5-1. The play put runners at second and third, but Kilian escaped the jam with his eighth strikeout of the night.

The Flying Squirrels boosted their lead to 7-1 in the ninth courtesy of an RBI single from Maxwell and an RBI groundout from Fernandez. Maxwell went 3-for-4 with two RBIs in his first multi-hit performance while with Richmond.

Raffi Vizcaíno pitched a 1-2-3 seventh inning with a strikeout. It was the seventh appearance of the season that Vizcaíno has faced the batter minimum.

R.J. Dabovich struck out three out of four batters faced in a scoreless eighth inning. Dabovich has collected three strikeouts in each of his three appearances for Richmond. Norwith Gudino closed out the ballgame with a scoreless ninth inning.

Game two of the series is Wednesday night at Dunkin’ Donuts with first pitch scheduled for 7:05 p.m. Left-hander Phil Pfeifer (0-1, 5.19) will pitch for Richmond opposed by Hartford right-hander Ryan Feltner (1-0, 0.00).

The Flying Squirrels are back at The Diamond for a six-game series against the Binghamton Rumble Ponies from June 29-July 4. On June 29, the Flying Squirrels honor the 35th anniversary of the Richmond Braves winning the 1986 International League title with the Governor’s Cup Celebration at The Diamond. The first 1,000 fans 15 and older can receive a t-shirt featuring the classic logo for The Diamond presented by Ukrop’s Homestyle Foods. Gates open at 5:30 with a 6:35 p.m. first pitch.

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