With four fourth places in Birmingham in 2022, Richards was competing in his first event in Glasgow and looking for his first Commonwealth medal to complete the set of Olympic, world and European podium positions.
Wales opted for an entirely different quartet in the pool in the final after Kieran Bird, Harry Milne, Medi Harris and Meghan Higgs had qualified fourth fastest in the heats.
Sutton and Taylor had qualified for their respective individual semi-finals in the 100m backstroke and 100m breaststroke, but both pulled out with a full focus on the relay.
The policy paid off and Taylor, 17, brought Wales back from fifth to third with a brilliant final leg.
Earlier, Rose Williams finished fourth in the women’s S14 200m freestyle final.
The S14 category covers swimmers who have an intellectual impairment, which typically leads to the athletes having difficulties with regard to pattern recognition, sequencing, and memory, or having a slower reaction time, which impact on sport performance in general.
Tyler Melbourne-Smith finished sixth in the 400m freestyle final, while Lewis Fraser qualified for the 100m butterfly final to be staged on Sunday evening.
