Richmond Flying Squirrels

The Richmond Flying Squirrels waited through a lengthy rain-delay and defeated the Altoona Curve, 7-1, in front of 8,947 at The Diamond on Friday night. The Flying Squirrels were ahead 4-1 in the bottom of the eighth inning when heavy rains interrupted the ballgame for an hour and 14 minutes. Richmond tacked on three more runs after the restart for the final margin.

As they did in the series-opener, the Curve took the early advantage, plating a run in the first inning against Squirrels' starter Craig Clark. Clark walked Chase d'Arnaud to start the ballgame, and he was bunted to second by Gorkys Hernandez. Clark threw wildly on an attempted pick-off at second base, and d'Arnaud advanced to third on the error. Jordy Mercer sent a flare-single to right field to give the Curve a 1-0 lead.

Curve starter Rudy Owens held off the Squirrels into the fifth inning, but Brandon Crawford got Richmond started with a single to start the frame. Hernandez misplayed the ball in center field and Crawford was able to advance to second base on the play. Thomas Neal then bounced an infield-single to the right-side. Crawford was able to come around and score, dislodging the ball from catcher Hector Gimenez to arrive safely. A batter later, Juan Ciriaco gave Richmond the lead with a sacrifice fly to right field, plating Neal.

The Squirrels padded their new-found lead with a pair of runs against Owens in the fifth inning. Jackson Williams sparked the rally with a lead-off single back off the pitcher. A batter later, Owens walked Ronnie Ray, pinch-hitting for Clark. Darren Ford contributed an RBI single to push the lead to 3-1 and after Crawford singled, Neal cranked an RBI single to left field to score Ray and widen the lead to 4-1.

Clark (2-2) settled in nicely, and turned in five innings for the win. He allowed just the lone run on five hits, walking three and striking out two.

Owens (3-2) was saddled with the loss, allowing four earned runs on seven hits over six innings. He walked two and struck out three in his second defeat of the season.

Ray was superb in relief, working three scoreless innings and allowing just a bunt-single while fanning three.

The three-run eighth inning included a sacrifice fly from Conor Gillaspie, an RBI single from Ford and an RBI single from Neal. Ford and Neal each finished the ballgame with three hits. Neal drove in three runs, while Ford brought home two.

The win for the Squirrels puts them in front of Altoona by a game and a half for first place in the Western Division and places them nine games over .500 for the first time in franchise history.

Game three of the four-game series is scheduled for 6:35 PM on Saturday night at The Diamond. Richmond has yet to name a starter that will oppose RHP Jared Hughes (6-1, 3.53) for the Curve.