Sellout Crowd Watches Aeros Fall to Flying Squirrels, 9-4

Akron, OH - A capacity crowd of 9,025 turned out at Canal Park Friday night, and they witnessed one of the top pitching performances in the EL this season. The only problem was that it was thrown against the Aeros.

Richmond lefty Chris Gloor tossed eight innings and held Akron to two runs on four hits as the Flying Squirrels rolled to a 9-4 victory in the second game of a four-game series.

Gloor (8-5) walked only one and struck out seven in his longest outing of the season. He evened his record against Akron to 1-1, following a loss to the Aeros earlier this month in Richmond. The only blemish on Gloor's stat line Friday was a two-run homer by Carlos Moncrief in the second inning.

By the time Moncrief homered, however, Richmond had jumped to a 5-0 lead against Aeros starter Brett Brach (6-7). After being limited to six hits in a 5-1 loss on Thursday, the Squirrels scored three runs on five hits against Brach in the first inning. In the second, a two-out, two-run single by Andrew Susac made it 5-0. After Akron closed the gap to 5-2, in the bottom of the second on Moncrief's 14th homer of the year, Ryan Lollis delivered another two-out, two-run single to push the lead up to 7-2, for Richmond.

Brach gave up seven runs on nine hits and left after five innings. Richmond later added a pair of runs against reliever Rob Bryson.

The sellout crowd finally had something to cheer about in the ninth when Cedric Hunter and Jesus Aguilar led off the inning with back-to-back home runs off Omar Javier. Moncrief and Tyler Holt followed with singles, but righthander Cody Hall came in and induced a double-play grounder fromn Giovanny Urshela and then struck out Matt Lawson to squash any thought of a miracle comeback.

Aguilar was 2-3 on the night. His homer gave him 78 RBI on the season, a figure that leads the league. Moncrief was 2-4, and with his home run, he now has 61 RBI. Catcher Alex Monsalve was the only other Aeros hitter with two hits, and he was 2-3, with a pair of singles.

The Aeros and Squirrels will meet in game three of the series on Saturday night at 7:05. RHP Craig Westcott (4-9, 3.84) will make the start for Richmond, while RHP Will Roberts (6-7, 4.39) is the expected starter for Akron. The game will be broadcast live on Fox Sports 1350 AM, and online at www.sportsradio1350.com. For more information, please call the Aeros at 330-253-5151. Follow the team on Twitter @akronaeros or on Facebook at facebook.com/theakronaeros.

Saturday's Promotions: There will be a Main Street Festival from 5-7 pm, includes live music, inflatables, entertainers, and beer sales will benefit the Rotary Club of Fairlawn. Team Photo Giveaway: The first 1,000 fans in attendance will receive a team photo of the 2013 Akron Aeros! It's also a Celebrity Saturday! The Aeros will have their Mystery Celebrity PA Announcer - Guess all 11 correctly and win a spot in the Aeros Mystery Celebrity PA Announcer Suite on Fan Appreciation Day (August 29th), presented by 97.5 WONE. We'll also have Superhero-themed fireworks and a post-game Scout Sleepover on the field!