HARRISBURG, Pa. (Aug. 14, 2026) — The Senators and Flying Squirrels played a haphazard game Friday night, trading the lead back and forth through the late stages. Richmond came back to win 9-7 with three runs in the ninth.
The first four innings mostly went quickly and quietly, but the game turned in the fifth.
Harrisburg jumped in front in the first inning. Devin Fitz-Gerald led off with a single.
With two outs, Elijah Green ripped a double to center field to score Fitz-Gerald. Then Ethan Petry lined a double into the right-center alleyway to drive in Green and give Harrisburg a 2-0 lead.
The score held until the fifth.
LHP DJ Herz, on rehab assignment from the Nationals, pitched the first two innings and retired all six hitters he faced. Herz struck out two.
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RHP Isaac Lyon followed and cruised through the third and fourth innings.
In the fifth, the Squirrels' Maui Ahuna and Ty Hanchey each reached on infield singles to put runners on first and third with no outs. Then Jancel Villarroel doubled off the right-field fence to score Ahuna, putting runners on second and third with no outs. A sacrifice fly scored Hanchey to tie the game 2-2 and moved Villarroel to third with one out.
Jose Astudillo reached on catcher interference, which was the third catcher interference call on Caleb Lomavita this week.
With runners on the corners and one out, Trevor Cohen dropped down a bunt in front of the mound. Lyon fielded and flipped home, and the Senators caught Villarroel in a rundown between third and home. Kervin Pichardo tagged out the runner close to third base.
While the rundown played out, Astudillo broke around second for third base. Pichardo flipped to Cortland Lawson at third base to try to nab Astudillo for the third out.
The ball got away, and the runner broke for home. Lawson threw to Lyon covering at the plate, where a big collision occurred between the two before the plate. It appeared to be the third out.
But the umpires ruled interference on Lawson on the initial play at third, scoring Astudillo on the decision. Richmond took a 3-2 lead.
Harrisburg tied the game in the bottom of the fifth on Branden Boissiere's RBI single to score Fitz-Gerald.
RHP Jhancarlos Lara came on for the sixth and walked the first three batters of the inning. All three came around to score to give the Flying Squirrels a 6-3 lead.
The Senators plated a run in the bottom of the inning when Lawson drove in Lomavita with a two-out single. Richmond led 6-4 after six.
In the seventh, Boissiere launched a home run to deep center field to pull the Senators within one, trailing 6-5.
RHP Luke Young came on for Harrisburg and held Richmond scoreless across the seventh and eighth innings.
In the bottom of the eighth, Lawson singled with two outs. Then Fitz-Gerald lined a two-run homer to right field to put the Senators back in front 7-6.
RHP Robert Cranz (L, 3-1) came on for the save. The Flying Squirrels scored three runs on two hits, including a Cohen triple, and an error to take a 9-7 lead.
The Senators went down in order in the ninth, dropping their third straight game to the Squirrels.
Harrisburg aims to tie the series back up Saturday at 6 p.m. RHP Jack Cebert (2-3) is scheduled for the start.
