The Richmond Flying Squirrels came back from an early deficit and used a strong bullpen performance to beat the Harrisburg Senators, 8-3, on Sunday afternoon at The Diamond, securing their third straight series victory.

  

After falling behind 2-0 in the first inning, Richmond (34-54-1, 13-8 second half) responded quickly. Bo Davidson launched his first Double-A home run in the bottom half of the inning, a solo shot to right field that cut the deficit in half. 

Harrisburg (42-47, 8-12) briefly extended its lead on a second-inning RBI single by Cayden Wallace, but Aeverson Arteaga tied the game in the bottom of the frame with a two-run homer to left — his fifth of the season.

The Squirrels took the lead for good in the fourth. Scott Bandura led off with a single, advanced to third on a hit by Adrian Sugastey, and scored on a sacrifice fly by Sabin Ceballos.

Richmond tacked on another run in the sixth after a Harrisburg error, then broke the game open with a three-run seventh.

Sugastey tripled home two runs, and Ceballos added his second sacrifice fly of the afternoon to make it 8-3.

Manuel Mercedes (5-10) earned the win with 3.2 innings of relief, allowing just one run and striking out three. He entered in the second after starter Seth Lonsway struggled with control, issuing four straight walks as part of a two-run first for the Senators.

Relievers Helcris Olivarez, Cameron Cotter and Tyler Myrick combined for 4.1 scoreless innings to close out the game in front of 5,395 fans.

The Flying Squirrels began a six-game homestand against the Portland Sea Dogs, the Double-A affiliate of the Boston Red Sox, on Tuesday.