EL1 Richmond Flying Squirrels

Flying Squirrels Faceoff Against New Hampshire Fisher Cats

August 4, 2010 - Eastern League (EL1)
Richmond Flying Squirrels News Release


TODAY: The Richmond Flying Squirrels and the New Hampshire Fisher Cats will meet in game two of a three-game series...The Flying Squirrels scored a pair of runs in the top of the 10th inning and claimed the series-opener against the Fisher Cats 4-2 on Tuesday night at MerchantsAuto.com Stadium.

TODAY'S STARTERS: Right-hander Felix Romero gets the start in game two of the series for the Flying Squirrels...Earned the win in his last start against Altoona 7/29...Start was his first since 7/20 after being away for the birth of his child...Allowed one run on six hits in seven innings...Struck out seven batters and did not walk any...Retired 15 of the first 17 batters he faced...Retired the leadoff batter in six of his seven innings on the mound...Recorded seven fly outs and six ground outs...Threw 88 pitches, 63 strikes...Threw three pitches or less to 13 of the 26 batters that he faced...Six of his nine starts have been quality starts...Has gone six innings or more in seven of his nine starts...Has allowed just one run in five of his nine starts...Has not lost in his last seven starts...Is 3-1 with a 2.72 ERA (17ER/56.1 IP) in nine starts with Richmond... Entering the season, his longest outing was four innings...Prior to this season, had not started since 8/21/08 against Toledo while with Triple-A Norfolk...Began the season with Triple-A Fresno and appeared in seven games going 0-0 with a 6.52 ERA...Spent all of 2009 with Fresno and appeared in 50 games, all in relief and second-most on the club (Geno Espineli - 52)...Went 5-5 with a 4.28 ERA...Struck out 69 batters and walked 16 over 73 2/3 innings...Signed by the San Francisco Giants as a minor league free agent December 18, 2008...Originally signed as a non-drafted by the Toronto Blue Jays in 1998...Has spent time with the Blue Jays, Red Sox, Orioles, and Giants organizations over his nine-year professional career...Did not play in 2006...Is the oldest member of the Flying Squirrels roster.

Right-hander Shawn Hill gets the nod in game two of the series for the Fisher Cats...Making his first start with the Fisher Cats...Received a no-decision in his last start with Advanced-A Dunedin against Fort Myers 7/29...Allowed two runs on seven hits in six innings...Struck out five batters and walked none...Went 3-0 with a 0.41 ERA in four starts with the GCL Blue Jays...Struck out 21 batters and walked one in 22 innings...Signed by the Toronto Blue Jays as a minor league free agent 1/22/10...Recovering from a right elbow injury and Tommy John surgery...Went 8-16 with a 4.95 ERA in 40 Major League starts spanning five seasons with the Washington Nationals and San Diego Padres...Originally selected by the Montreal Expos in the sixth round of the 2000 First-Year Player Draft.

ALL IN: Richmond is attempting to win back-to-back series for the first time since 5/7-5/12 when the club won consecutive three-game sets at Harrisburg and Bowie...The club recently took three of four from Altoona...Since the All-Star break, the Flying Squirrels are 11-8 and have gone 2-1-2 in the five series that they have played...The club is 10-8 in day games this season.

EXTRA, EXTRA!: Richmond improved to 5-5 in extra innings with last night's 4-2, 10-inning win over New Hampshire...The Flying Squirrels are tied with Bowie and Portland for second-most extra inning games played this season...Only Harrisburg (11) has played in more extra inning affairs.

BULLISH PEN: The Flying Squirrels bullpen has allowed just one run over its last 16 innings spanning five games (0.56 ERA)...Opposing hitters are 10-for-58 (.172) against Richmond relievers over the last five contests...The bullpen has struck out 18 batters and has walked six over the past five games.

MOUND MATTERS: The Flying Squirrels have allowed three earned runs or less and have a combined staff ERA of 1.77 (31 er/158 ip) in each of their last 17 victories...The Flying Squirrels are 9-46 when allowing four runs or more and 0-28 when giving up six runs or more.

ERROR REPORT: The Flying Squirrels have committed nine errors over their last four games including three errors that led to five unearned runs on Sunday...The club ranks third in the Eastern League in both fielding percentage (.981) and fewest errors (80).

SUPER SAVER: Right-hander Rafael Cova recorded his Eastern League-leading 19th save in last night's 4-2 win over New Hampshire...The 28-year-old is 19-for-23 in save opportunities, and he has held opposing hitters to a .147 (21-for-143) batting average against...Cova has inherited 13 base runners and has left them all stranded.

UNBUCKLING THE BELT: In 104 games combined between Advanced-A San Jose and Double-A Richmond, first baseman Brandon Belt leads all of minor league baseball in on-base percentage (.469), is second in batting average (.371) is third in slugging percentage (.635), and is sixth in hits (139)...The 22-year-old is batting .429 (12-for-28) with runners in scoring position in 27 games with the Flying Squirrels and is hitting .391 (45-for-115) overall with runners in scoring position this season.

DOUBLETREE DOWNTOWN DOUBLE PLAYS: The Richmond Flying Squirrels have turned 135 double plays in 109 games including six on 5/7 in Harrisburg...The Flying Squirrels have not gone more than three games without a double play this season...The club leads the Eastern League in double plays turned.

CFS STAT OF THE NIGHT: The Flying Squirrels won for just the fourth time in 45 games (4-41) when being outhit by their opponent in last night's 4-2 victory over the Fisher Cats...It was also only the fourth win in 42 games (4-38) for the club when trailing after five innings.

Check out the Richmond Flying Squirrels Statistics



Eastern League Stories from August 4, 2010


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