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The Richmond Flying Squirrels took down the Altoona Curve, 7-0, in front of 3,591 fans at PNG Field Wednesday night.
Curve pitchers had no answer for a Richmond offense that scattered 15 hits, including six that went four extra bases.
Leading the way for the Flying Squirrels was third baseman Shane Matheny who went 4-for-5 with a triple. Matheny had as many hits himself as the entire Altoona offense.
"Hitting is hard, right?" Curve manager Callix Crabbe said. "Playing the game is hard in general and I think you hate seeing when someone has four hits, but ultimately me being a hitter, I understand how challenging it is to just get a hit sometimes." .
Matheny also scored three runs for Richmond who had four players with two hits a piece.
"You got to tip your cap and say, look, the kid had a good game he made really good contact," Crabbe said. "He also played really good defense. I think tonight was definitely clicking for him."
The Curve rallied in the home half of the fifth inning when they had the bases loaded with only one out. It went for naught as Eli Wilson struck out, and Lolo Sanchez hit into a fielder's choice at third to end the inning.
"I think the guys know that we're scuffling for runs right now," Crabbe said. "When collectively you know you're having a hard time getting runs in you start trying a little too much and I think that's fair. My job is to identify and create an environment where they can feel free or comfortable even though we're struggling."
"What we're gonna do for the next couple days is kind of pull back on the amount of work and swings that we're taking." "It's a less is more kind of thing so we're just going to hit in the cages tomorrow and probably hitting the cages Friday and then let them have some fun."
Extra! Extra!
Wednesday's loss was yet another on the season that featured death via extra base hits.
All seven runs the Flying Squirrels scored came off extra base hits as they recorded two doubles and two triples on the night.
"What it came down to is we missed probably a little too much over the middle of the play versus the other side," Crabbe said. "Typically when you leave a lot of pitches over the heart of the plate and you're behind a little bit then that's a recipe for trouble."
He's here
Jackson Wolf will be added to the active roster ahead of tonight's game. The lefty pitcher was acquired from the San Diego Padres in a trade for RHP Rich Hill and 1B Ji-Man Choi.
Wolf is 8-9 with a 4.08 ERA in 18 starts for the San Antonio Missions, the Double-A affiliate of the Padres. He notched a win in his only start with San Diego this season allowing three runs in five innings.