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Richmond Flying Squirrels

Flying Squirrels Game Notes: vs. Trenton

June 24, 2015 - Eastern League (EL1)
Richmond Flying Squirrels News Release


Richmond Flying Squirrels (SF) (38-31) vs. Trenton Thunder (NYY) (37-34)

Wednesday, June 24th -- 6:35 PM

The Diamond -- Richmond, VA

Game #70 - Home Game #38

Radio: Fox Sports 910 (6:00 PM) Internet: FoxSportsRichmond.com

RHP Tyler Beede (1-1, 3.06) vs. RHP Brady Lail (3-3, 2.62)

SERIES AT A GLANCE: The Squirrels manipulated the opener of this four-game series, 4-0, and the pitching staff was a bulk of the reason for that. Adalberto Mejia logged a season high six scoreless innings and did not issue a walk in just his fourth start of the year. The top of the order produced for Richmond on offense. Kelby Tomlinson and Rando Moreno went a combined 4-9 with three doubles and scored three of the four runs. It was the fifth shutout victory for the Squirrels this season. This is the only time the Trenton Thunder (New York Yankees) makes the trip to The Diamond in 2015. These clubs will collide 10 times during the remainder of the regular season. Richmond just wrapped up a long five-game marathon series with the New Britain Rock Cats and grabbed the series winning three times. Saturday featured a scheduled doubleheader, but only one game finished due to rain and the other was postponed. They played a double-dip on Sunday and the two seven inning games lasted a combined 4 hours and 17 minutes. Nonetheless, the Squirrels are a stellar 12-1-1 in their last 14 series and 15-6 in June. Richmond faces Trenton two more times and both will be on the road in New Jersey (7/10-7/13 and 8/21-8/23). Trenton arrives with a difficult week in the rearview mirror and that continued Tuesday. They have lost nine of their previous 11 games and in that span have been swept in two series. Thunder starting pitchers have accounted for 26 of the 36 runs allowed in these eight defeats. The top three hitters in the Trenton lineup went 7-45 (.155) in the most recent series against Bowie through four games. This Eastern Division foe does not present as tough of a lineup as it did for most of this season. Outfielder Aaron Judge, who is tied for the league lead in home runs and fourth in RBI's, was recently promoted to Triple-A. In addition, infielder Eric Jagielo is currently on the Disabled List (listed as the #11 prospect in Yankees system after 2014 season).

THE CLIMB TO THE PEAK: The top of the mountain is getting closer. The Squirrels placed themselves into a tie with the Bowie Baysox (Baltimore Orioles) for second place in the Western Division last Thursday. That marked the first time Richmond has held second place since April 15, when the team was just 3-3. The club is back in third place after for the last few days, but they still only trail the Altoona Curve (Pittsburgh Pirates) by 2.5 games for the division-lead. Richmond has only been this close to first place on one other day (6/17) since the first week of the season. That's not too shabby when you factor in that the Squirrels had plummeted to a season-worst 11.5 games behind the Curve on May 3rd after dropping their 15th straight game and falling to 3-17. They are a league-best 35-14 since that day.

CLOSE CALLS: The Squirrels have played in 24 one-run games this year and have come out on top in 13 of them. They have already participated in 10 one-run games in June, which is more than they played in May (7 times) and April (7 times). Eight of those games have been decided by the outcome of 4-3. Richmond has won six of them. The "4-3" final has occurred more than any other final score for the Squirrels in 2015.

A TEST OF STAMINA: The recent five-game set with the Rock Cats took a beating on the Squirrels' bullpen. The relievers tossed 25.1 innings in a span of just five days and used nine different arms. There were only six earned runs absorbed from these pitchers in total. Pedro Rodriguez and Edwin Quirarte spearheaded the success by taking on unexpected roles. They were the two starters in the doubleheader sweep on Sunday. It was just Rodriguez's ninth start of his career and he delivered a season high five shutout innings and yielded two hits. Meanwhile, this was Quirarte's second career start in 318 appearances and he went three innings and only surrendered one run. The dominant bullpen has carried over into the series with Trenton. Joan Gregorio, Derek Law, and Josh Osich each threw one inning Tuesday and all of them recorded two strikeouts.

DIFFERENT SCENERY: Outfielder Daniel Carbonell was sent down to San Jose (A+) Tuesday after a tough season with Richmond. The 24-year-old played in 56 games with the Squirrels and only managed a .146 average. The Cuban native was just 2-31 before the he received the call down to the Class Advanced A Affiliate. In 2014, Carbonell hit .344 in 21 games with San Jose. This is only the second professional season for the youngster.

MEAT OF THE ORDER: Mac Williamson, Devin Harris, and Ricky Oropesa have been up and down through June. Willamson has at least a hit in 14 of the 21 games he has participated in this month. In June, however, the outfielder has only recorded RBI's in back-to-back games twice. Williamson is 6-12 with four RBI's and two doubles in his last four contests. He has just four doubles total in this month. Meanwhile, Harris is batting just .175 since the calendar turned, but has managed to remain at the top of the Eastern League with 22 doubles this year. The 27-year-old has not compiled a hitting-streak longer than two games in June. He also has only recorded one RBI in his previous seven games. Lastly, Oropesa has swung the hottest bat out of the three in June with a .343 average. This includes eight multi-hit games, which is the most on the team during this month. The first baseman has collected seven hits in last 11 at-bats and has posted six RBI's during that stretch.

BEAST IN A BOTTLE: It is pretty remarkable what Joe Biagini has served on his platter so far in his first season at the AA level. Prior to his start on Monday, he was 6-3 with the second best ERA in the Eastern League (1.56). However, Monday was a tiny step backwards as the right-hander logged his shortest outing of the year (3.2 IP) and allowed a season high six runs (four earned). His ERA ballooned to 1.97, still good for third in the league. Biagini has lasted at least six innings in nine of his 12 starts and has only surrendered more than two walks in an outing once all season. Last year, the 25-year-old had a 4.01 ERA and walked more than three batters in seven of his 23 starts with A(Adv) San Jose. Biagini tossed a season high eight shutout innings and only gave up two hits (none after the second inning) at Harrisburg on June 16.

SETTING THE TONE: Kelby Tomlinson has provided a gigantic amount of production for the Squirrels' offense. He leads the Eastern League with a .328 batting average, is tied for second in total hits with 81, and has 16 stolen bases which is good for second best in the league. The 25-year-old leadoff hitter's recent on-base streak ended at 17 games after he failed to reach base in Game 2 of the doubleheader Sunday. Tomlinson also carries a team-leading 26 multi-hit games in 2015. The second baseman launched two doubles in a game for the first time Tuesday. He is coming off a rough series against New Britain where he went just 2-15 in four games.

THE EARLY ADVANTAGE: The Squirrels have developed a habit of getting off to fast starts this season, and currently have outscored their opposition by 41 runs in the first two innings. They hold a 39-18 advantage in the first inning (+21) and a 37-17 edge (+20) in the second inning. However, the 7th inning has been the team's most prolific frame as they have scored 41 runs in that stanza. The 8th inning has been the most troublesome for Richmond as they been outscored 32-22 (-10) in the 8th inning. Also, the Squirrels have cracked the scoreboard first in all but one game since June 7.

SAVING THE DAY: Squirrels' closer Josh Osich has been a busy man in June. The left-hander has appeared in 12 of Richmond's previous 21 games. During that span, he has tossed 12 innings (one per outing), given up just seven hits, two runs and racked up 13 strikeouts. In five of his last eight outings, he has not allowed a base runner. Osich recorded his 19th save on Sunday against the Rock Cats. His 19 saves are tied for the most in the Eastern League. 18 of his 19 saves have come since May 5th. Osich did not record a save last year.

UPCOMING HOMESTAND PROMOTIONS: (6/24) ZOOperstars! Appearance. (6/25) Fireworks/The Many Faces of Robin Williams Jersey Auction presented by Your Local Ford Dealers. (6/26) Free Shirt Fridays & Happy Hour presented by Coke Zero/Girl Scout Sleepover.

TRENTON STARTING PITCHER: Brady Lail (3-3, 2.62)

Lail will make his 13th start of the season for the Thunder and first against the Squirrels. In two of his previous three starts, the right-hander has lasted seven innings. During those same two starts, Lail fanned eight batters in both of them. The 21-year-old holds a 2.62 ERA, which is good enough for seventh in the Eastern League. The Yankees drafted Lail in 2012 straight out of high school as a teenager in the 18th round. He decided against taking his scholarship offer to play at Arizona. This is the youngster's first stint at the Double-A level after he spent most of his time with A(Full) Charleston RIverDogs in 2014. Lail started 18 games with the RiverDogs and produced a 3.71 ERA. Brady is resides in South Jordan, UT. He attended Bingham High School, just like the 14th overall pick in the 2013 NFL Draft, Star Lotulelei. Utah is tied for producing the 10th fewest Major Leaguers among all the other states, according to the Baseball Almanac.

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