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EL1 Richmond Flying Squirrels

Flying Squirrels Game Notes: at Altoona

May 4, 2015 - Eastern League (EL1)
Richmond Flying Squirrels News Release


Richmond Flying Squirrels (SF) (3-17) vs. Altoona Curve (PIT) (15-6)

Monday, May 4th -- 6:00 PM

Peoples Natural Gas Field -- Altoona, PA

Game #21 - Road Game #9

Radio: Fox Sports 910 (5:30 PM) Internet: FoxSportsRichmond.com

LHP Kelvin Marte (0-0, 1.86) vs. LHP Zack Dodson (1-0, 0.00)

SERIES AT A GLANCE: The Squirrels lost their franchise-record 15th consecutive game on Sunday afternoon, losing a four-run lead and falling, 8-6, to the New Britain Rock Cats. Richmond allowed five runs in the 7th inning for the second straight ballgame, and lost at least a three-run lead in both. The most recent defeat allowed New Britain to complete a three-game sweep, marking the fifth consecutive series in which the Squirrels have been swept - also a franchise record. The Squirrels have not won a game in 20 days, with their last victory coming against the Curve at The Diamond on April 13th (10-3). The Squirrels' current skid began against Altoona two days later on April 15th, when they were shutout, 3-0. Although they lost that game, that did mark the last series in which the Squirrels were not swept. The series was shortened to two games due to rain, with the team's splitting the pair. LHP Kelvin Marte returns to the Richmond rotation to make the start tonight against LHP Zack Dodson for the Curve.

STOP THE RIDE!: Since getting off to the first 2-0 start in franchise history, the Squirrels have struggled mightily. They have dropped 17 of their last 18 games, including their current 15-game losing skid. During the 15-game slide, the Squirrels have been outscored 82-38, enduring their first four blowout (5+ run differential) losses, and have also been shut out four times. Richmond is currently spending their 15th straight day in the Western Division basement, and they are a season-worst 11.5 games behind division-leading Altoona. Should the Squirrels lose today, they would extend their now franchise record losing skid to 16 games. 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.

STOP LOOKING AT ME SWAN: The Squirrels are gaining attention throughout minor league baseball, but not for the reasons they would like. The Squirrels currently carry the longest losing streak in all of minor league baseball. The Erie SeaWolves, also of the Eastern League's Western Division, have the second longest current skid having lost 12 in a row. Erie's streak continued on Saturday night as they fell to Altoona, 7-4. Richmond also has the worst overall record in minor league baseball (3-17) and their .150 winning percentage is also last in the country.

APRIL SHOWERS BRING MAY FLOWERS?: The Squirrels certainly weren't shedding tears as the calendar turned to May on Friday. The 3-14 record the team compiled in the month of April was by far and away the poorest record the team has posted in the season's opening month in their now six-year existence. They had previously never failed to record double-digit wins in April, with their 10-12 record in April, 2013, their previous low for wins. They had never been more than two games under .500 on May 1st. The three wins in the month also easily represents the fewest in a month other than September and 11 games under .500 was also a franchise-record for an individual month.

THE LONG AND WINDING ROAD: The Squirrels have dropped their first eight road contests of the 2015 season. continuing a trend of road struggles for Richmond since their inception in 2010. Over the first five-plus seasons of their existence, the Squirrels have posted a road record of 161-202 (.443), 41 games under .500. That stands in startling contrast to their home field advantage that they have enjoyed at The Diamond where the team has gone 205-160 all-time (.562). The team has enjoyed a winning road record just once in five seasons, and that came last year when the Squirrels went 37-34 away from home. The largest discrepancy between home and road came in 2011 when the Squirrels claimed the wild-card spot in the Western Division by going 45-26 at home and 31-40 on the road. The Squirrels are currently 3-9 at home this season.

GO WEST YOUNG MEN...AND STEP ON IT: The Squirrels are currently winless against the Eastern Division thus far this season. They have been swept twice in a three-game series by the Reading Fightin Phils, and have also been swept in a pair of three-game series by New Britain. The Squirrels' three wins on the season have come against Bowie (2) and Altoona (1).

ALTOONA STARTING PITCHER: LHP Zack Dodson (1-0, 0.00)

A fourth-round selection of the Pirates in the 2009 MLB draft out of Medina Valley High School in Castroville, TX, Dodson was signed away from what was believed to be a firm commitment to pitch at Baylor with a $600,000 signing bonus. The early portion of his career went smoothly, as he posted respectable numbers at short-season State College in 2010 and was on his way to a breakout year with the West Virginia Power (A) in 2011. In fact, Baseball America had rated him as a top-30 prospect in the Pirates' chain in each of those seasons (#18 - 2010, #23 - 2011). However, he suffered a broken hand in the middle of the 2011 season that sidelined him for nearly two months and when returned his velocity did not. He has never really gotten back on track since. He repeated at West Virginia with much less success in 2012 and has turned in middling seasons at Bradenton (A+) (2013) and Altoona (AA) (2014). With the Curve last year, he made 24 appearances - 23 starts - and posted a 4-8 record and ERA of 4.62. More troubling however, was his contact rate, as he conceded a league average of .290 and allowed 139 hits in 122.2 innings. His BB:K ratio was also relatively poor as he walked 46 and struck out just 76. However, this year he has been outstanding through four appearances - three starts. He has allowed no runs and just 11 hits across 18 innings. That includes five scoreless innings on three hits against the Squirrels at The Diamond on April 13th.

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