Fisher Cats starter Paxton Schultz tied his career high with nine strikeouts Wednesday night. (Courtesy photo by Brandon Maffitt)

MANCHESTER – Starter Paxton Schultz stayed true to form on Wednesday night at Delta Dental Stadium, but the Fisher Cats had just four hits as New Hampshire (13-16, 44-54) lost, 3-2, to the Richmond Flying Squirrels (San Francisco Giants, 10-18, 50-47) for the second straight night at Delta Dental Stadium.

Schultz tied his career-high of nine strikeouts, and he struck out multiple batters in three of his six innings on the mound. The righty threw a career-high 101 pitches with 57 strikes and came out with two outs in the top of the sixth inning.

He finished with 5.2 shutout innings, allowing four hits with four walks. In his last five outings, Schultz has gone 5.2+ innings and allowed one earned run or fewer three times. He had a 2-0 record and 1.96 ERA in the month of July.

Parker Caracci struck out the final batter of the sixth, and the game stayed scoreless until the seventh.

New Hampshire’s stellar defense early in the game kept Richmond off the board. Zach Britton caught his first runner stealing at Double-A in the second, and the Fisher Cats turned an unconventional double play in the fifth. Shortstop Addison Barger flipped to Luis De Los Santos at second for a fielder’s choice force out, and De Los Santos tried to turn two at first. Trevor Schwecke made a stellar scoop, but the runner was safe. Richmond’s Jacob Heyward then tried to score on the play, and Schwecke threw him out at home. Britton applied the tag.

Richmond scored three runs across the seventh and eighth, and the Fisher Cats bats responded. In the bottom of the eighth, three straight batters reached base to set up Rafael Lantigua, who delivered a two-RBI single to bring New Hampshire within one, 3-2. He now has an eight-game hit streak, tied for his longest of the season.

Orelvis Martinez had a base hit in the bottom of the ninth. Cam Eden replaced him as a pinch runner and stole second and third base. He leads the team in stolen bases with 15. With the tying run 90 feet away, Richmond delivered the final punchout to end the game.

The Fisher Cats are home for two weeks, and they continue their series versus Richmond tonight at 7:05. Next week, New Hampshire welcomes the Erie SeaWolves (Detroit Tigers) for six games starting on Tuesday, August 9.