Hot hitting day comes up short in 7-5 loss
ALTOONA, Pa. – In a back-and-forth contest which saw 25 combined hits, the Richmond Flying Squirrels fell to the Altoona Curve, 7-5, for their third consecutive loss on Wednesday afternoon at Peoples Natural Gas Field.
ALTOONA, Pa. – In a back-and-forth contest which saw 25 combined hits, the Richmond Flying Squirrels fell to the Altoona Curve, 7-5, for their third consecutive loss on Wednesday afternoon at Peoples Natural Gas Field.
The Flying Squirrels (20-15) racked up a season-high 15 hits and had five players with multi-hit performances. Brandon Martorano, Shane Matheny and Armani Smith each had three hits in the loss.
.@bmartorano4 triples and scores on a sac fly by @Tyler_Fitz10
— Richmond Flying Squirrels (@GoSquirrels) May 18, 2022
All tied up, 5-5, as we hit the stretch in Altoona pic.twitter.com/boOfaMUO9Q
Facing a 5-4 deficit in the seventh, Brandon Martorano smashed a leadoff triple and Tyler Fitzgerald lofted a sacrifice fly to center field that evened the score, 5-5.
Liover Peguero reclaimed the lead for Altoona (16-19) in the seventh with an RBI single off Ryan Walker (Loss, 6-1) and Blake Sabol rocketed a run-scoring triple to extend the Curve’s advantage to 7-5. Sabol finished the afternoon 4-for-4 with three RBIs.
J.C. Flowers (Win, 2-2) set down Richmond in order during the eighth inning and Colin Selby (Save, 5) pitched a scoreless ninth with two strikeouts to secure the victory.
First inning, first run
— Richmond Flying Squirrels (@GoSquirrels) May 18, 2022
Frankie Tostado puts us in the lead with a two-out hit pic.twitter.com/jCR7h6kbe8
Richmond opened the scoring in the first inning when Frankie Tostado lined an RBI single into right field, scoring Brett Auerbach from second and pushed the Flying Squirrels ahead, 1-0.
The Curve responded with three runs in the bottom of the first to claim a 3-1 lead. Peguero tied the game with an RBI triple, Sabol jumped Altoona in front with a base hit and Matt Frisbee was charged with a step off violation that brought the third run across.
With the bases loaded in the second, Mike Gigliotti brought the Flying Squirrels within a run off a sacrifice fly to right.
GONE.
— Richmond Flying Squirrels (@GoSquirrels) May 18, 2022
Frankie Tostado blasts a solo homer and this game is all tied up, 3-3 pic.twitter.com/fLIRPDSDhS
Trailing, 3-2, entering the third inning, Frankie Tostado propelled a solo home run to right field to even the game.
.@smatheny2 brings in @bmartorano4 and we are back in front, 4-3 pic.twitter.com/5H5O1TAftA
— Richmond Flying Squirrels (@GoSquirrels) May 18, 2022
Martorano followed with a double and Shane Matheny brought him home with a base hit to advance the Flying Squirrels in front, 4-3.
Sabol tied the game, 4-4, in the bottom of the third with his second hit of the day, a run-scoring double.
Leading off the sixth inning, Andres Alvarez batted a solo home run to give the Curve a 5-4 advantage. It was Alvarez’s second day with a homer in the series.
Game three of the series will be Thursday night with a 6 p.m. first pitch from Peoples Natural Gas Field. Left-hander Jake Dahlberg (2-1, 3.53) will make the start for Richmond.
The Flying Squirrels return home May 24-29 for a six-game series against the Hartford Yard Goats. Tickets are available online at SquirrelsBaseball.com/Tickets, by phone at 804-359-3866 or in person at the Flying Squirrels ticket office.