May 17: Four Richmond homers sink RubberDucks, 11-4

May 17, 2023 RubberDucks Game Recap | Box Score

Richmond Flying Squirrels (18-16) 11, Akron RubberDucks (17-17) 4

WP: Matt Frisbee (3-0) LP: Jack Leftwich (2-3) Save: none

Summary

Akron third baseman Aaron Bracho hit his team-high seventh home run, and left fielder Korey Holland extended a seven-game hitting streak, but four different Richmond batters homered to give the Flying Squirrels an 11-4 victory over the Akron RubberDucks in the second game of a six-game series at The Diamond Tuesday night.

The kid just keeps on hitting!@holland_korey keeps his 🔥 bat going by doubling home a run!

TOP 4: Richmond 5 | Akron 2 pic.twitter.com/pXVmlQlgHF

— Akron RubberDucks (@AkronRubberDuck) May 17, 2023

BRACHO 💣

Aaron Bracho launches his seventh homer of the summer to cut into the Richmond lead!

TOP 6: Richmond 9 | Akron 4 pic.twitter.com/kWY4mNBpbd

— Akron RubberDucks (@AkronRubberDuck) May 18, 2023

Turning Point

The Flying Squirrels grabbed the lead in the first inning against Akron right-hander Jack Leftwich. Left fielder Ismael Munguia hit a leadoff single, and shortstop Marco Luciano hit a one-out RBI double to right field. Two batters later, right fielder Carter Aldrete hit a two-run home run to right field for a 3-0 Richmond lead.

Mound Presence

Leftwich allowed three runs in the first inning and two in the second inning. He worked a perfect third inning but again found trouble in the fourth inning. Designated hitter Carter Williams hit a solo home run, and after two more hits, Leftwich was removed for right-hander Shane McCarthy, who yielded a three-run home run to shortstop Marco Luciano, extending the Richmond lead to 9-3. McCarthy lasted until the seventh inning, going three full innings and allowing two earned runs on home runs. Right-hander Zach Hart pitched 1 1/3 innings, allowing one run. The 11 runs and four home runs were the most in a single game allowed by the RubberDucks this season.

Duck Tales

The RubberDucks trailed, 5-0, through two innings before scoring in the third. Center fielder Connor Kokx was hit by a pitch from right-hander Kai-Wei Teng and scored after singles by designated hitter Petey Halpin and shortstop José Tena. In the fourth, Bracho hit a leadoff single and scored on Holland’s RBI double. Holland later scored on a throwing error by Luciano, cutting Richmond’s lead to 5-3. Bracho’s sixth-inning homer off right-hander Matt Frisbee made it 9-4.

One run at a time!

Jose Tena single puts us on the board!

TOP 3: Richmond 5 | Akron 1 pic.twitter.com/GKZBTPkAwf

— Akron RubberDucks (@AkronRubberDuck) May 17, 2023

Sometimes you need a little help

The speed of Halpin forces the throwing error to bring home another run!

TOP 4: Richmond 5 | Akron 3 pic.twitter.com/WZJs11UE90

— Akron RubberDucks (@AkronRubberDuck) May 17, 2023

Notebook

Holland is 11-for-23 with two doubles, a triple, two homers and eight RBIs in his first seven games as a RubberDuck…Right fielder Johnathan Rodríguez was 0-for-4, ending his eight-game hitting streak, the longest by a RubberDuck this season…Akron fell one game behind Richmond and 1.5 games behind first-place Erie (19-16) in the Southwest Division…Game Time: 2:54…Attendance: 9,810.

On the Pond

The RubberDucks continue their series in Richmond at 6:35 p.m. Thursday at The Diamond. Akron left-hander Doug Nikhazy (0-0, 3.44 ERA) is scheduled to face Flying Squirrels right-hander Ryan Murphy (1-1, 6.08 ERA). The game broadcast is on 640 WHLO, the 640 WHLO iHeartRadio channel, and akronrubberducks.com, and available on Bally Live. Tickets for RubberDucks home games are available at akronrubberducks.com/tickets.