EL1 Richmond Flying Squirrels

Flying Squirrels Game Notes - May 18 at Erie

Published on May 17, 2015 under Eastern League (EL1)
Richmond Flying Squirrels News Release


Richmond Flying Squirrels (SF) (14-20) vs. Erie SeaWolves (DET) (13-23)

Monday, May 18th -- 6:35 PM

Jerry Uht Park -- Erie, PA

Game #35 - Road Game #17

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

LHP Matt Lujan (1-3, 4.41) vs. LHP Josh Turley (2-2, 3.12)

SERIES AT A GLANCE: The Squirrels travel to Erie, PA, for the first time to open the first series of the season between the two clubs. Richmond enters having claimed their last four series, including taking three of four from the Bowie Baysox on the front-end of this seven-day, seven-game road trip. The two clubs will meet 10 times during the season, as Richmond will return to Erie for a four-game series (7/23-7/26). The SeaWolves will play just three games against the Squirrels in the River City, traveling to Richmond on June 12th. Erie is the last-place club in the Western Division, and like the Squirrels have a lengthy losing-skid on their resume in 2015 (12 games). The Designated Hitter will be utilized during this series, the second of three consecutive series in which that will be the case for the Squirrels. The Squirrels are 7-6 in games played with the DH. All 13 of those games have been played against Bowie. Erie is just the second American League (Detroit Tigers) affiliate that the Squirrels have played. Meanwhile, they have met four of the five other National League affiliates (Reading, New Britain, Altoona, Binghamton). The only National League affiliate that the Squirrels haven't seen yet is Harrisburg (Washington). LHP Matt Lujan takes the ball for Richmond in the opener, facing Erie for the first time in his career. He will be opposed by LHP Josh Turley (Bio Below).

NOBODY CIRCLES THE WAGONS LIKE THE BUFFALO BILLS: Or in this case, the Squirrels. After dropping a franchise-record 15 straight ballgames, the Squirrels have won 11 of their last 14 games, and our currently tied for 4th place in the Western Division. After posting a record of 3-14 in the month of April, Richmond is currently 11-6 in the month of May. A large reason for the turnaround has been an emerging offense. The Squirrels recorded a team-average of just .209 in April. However, that average has jumped to .269 in May, a 60-point increase. Richmond's overall team average has risen to .239, which is still the lightest in the circuit. Harrisburg is the next lowest at .245.

IF YOU'RE LOOKING FOR RICKY OROPESA, LOOK ON THE HIGH ROAD: Ricky Oropesa doesn't seem to enjoy hitting at The Diamond. Thus far, the 1B has hit just .115 (6-52) at home while striking out 14 times. However, he saves his best for when Squirrels' fans aren't looking. Oropesa has been a force on the road this season. He is currently batting .362 (21-58) away from The Diamond. He has four three-hit games on the year, with all of them occurring on the road. He also seems to be warming with the weather. The USC product has raised his season average 110 points (.135-.245) during the month of May. He has done so by batting .344 (20-58) in May after hitting just .135 (7-52) during the month of April.

DEFINITELY NOT LIKE A NASHVILLE PARTY: The Squirrels somewhat famously won their first 13 Sunday games of the 2014 season, and gave tongue-in-cheek credit to pop-singer Miley Cyrus, whose music they "bumped" in the clubhouse before Sunday games. This season, with myriad musical selections, the Squirrels dropped their first five Sunday contests. However, they claimed their first Sunday victory of the year on this trip, dowing Bowie, 9-4. Sunday had been the final day of the calendar week on which the team had not won a game yet. The Squirrels have claimed at least one victory on each day of the week now. Though they have struggled on weekends, with a combined 2-9 Saturday/Sunday record.

EVERYBODY WHO'S HITTING STEP FORWARD...YOU...NOT SO FAST!: The Squirrels are in the middle of a stretch of 10 consecutive games in which the DH will be in play. Richmond had played 21 of their first 31 games against National League affiliates, posting a 7-14 record in those games. Thus far on the year, Squirrels' hurlers are a combined 5-for-36 (.139) at the plate.

WHY COULDN'T YOU DO SIX MINUTE ABS?: The Squirrels had the bats out in Bowie during the first series of this road trip. Twice in the series (Friday, Sunday), the Squirrels racked up 16 hits. Those two performances are tied for the team's single-game season-high. Additionally, in each contest, six different Squirrels had at least two hits. All told, the team pounded out 49 hits in the series. Three players (Mac Williamson, Myles Schroder, Jackson Williams) each boasted a three-hit game.

WHY YOU GOTTA BRING UP OLD BLEEP?: Although the Squirrels snapped their losing streak 10 days ago in Altoona, it will live on in the team's record book. During the 15-game slide, the Squirrels were outscored 82-38, enduring four blowout (5+ run differential) losses, and were shut out four times. The Squirrels' previous franchise mark for consecutive losses was seven games. They last lost seven straight from July 8th-July 15th, 2013. They also dropped seven straight in 2010.

ERIE STARTING PITCHER: LHP Josh Turley (2-2, 3.14)

Turley, 24, will be making his seventh start of the season, and first against the Squirrels. He has allowed more than two earned runs just once on the season, but has not won since his second start on April 18th. Turley was originally selected out of Texarkana High School in his native Texarkana, TX, in the 36th round of the 2009 draft by Milwaukee. However, he elected to pitch at Baylor instead. Three years later the Tigers grabbed him in the 16th round of the 2012 draft and gave him 100,000 reasons to turn pro. He has ascended rapidly through the Detroit ranks, and arrived in Erie for the first time last year at the age of 23 in his third professional season. He made nine starts for the SeaWolves in 2014 and posted a 2-2 record with a 3.12 ERA. He had been exclusively a reliever in his first two professional seasons, and the Tigers didn't convert him to a starting role until the outset of 2014. All told, he has made 96 minor league appearances - 28 starts. He boasts a 24-11 all-time record and career ERA of 2.30.

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Eastern League Stories from May 17, 2015


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