EL1 Richmond Flying Squirrels

FLYING SQUIRRELS GAME NOTES: at Altoona

Published on May 6, 2015 under Eastern League (EL1)
Richmond Flying Squirrels News Release


Richmond Flying Squirrels (SF) (5-17) vs. Altoona Curve (PIT) (15-8)

Wednesday, May 6th -- 6:00 PM

Peoples Natural Gas Field -- Altoona, PA

Game #23 - Road Game #11

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

LHP Jack Snodgrass (1-3, 6.16) vs. RHP Tyler Glasnow (2-0, 0.79)

SERIES AT A GLANCE: The Squirrels won their second consecutive game over the first-place Curve on Tuesday night, 10-7. The game was a wild one, with the Squirrels racing out to a 6-0 lead before Altoona eventually tied the game, 7-7, after seven innings. Richmond pulled away for good with three runs in the top of the eighth inning. The 10 runs matched a season-high offensively for the Squirrels. They also scored 10 runs against Altoona at The Diamond on April 13th. Lefty Josh Osich earned the save, which was his second save of the year, and also just the second save of the season for Richmond as a team. Including tonight, Richmond will have two opportunities to post their first series victory of the season. They had been swept in five consecutive series entering this four-game set. Richmond LHP Jack Snodgrass will make his first start of the season against Altoona. Snodgrass has generally saved his best for the Curve over the last two seasons, as he carries a 6-1 record and ERA of 2.05 in eight career appearances - seven starts. He'll be matched with RHP Tyler Glasnow, currently rated as the #1 prospect in the Pittsburgh system by Baseball America.

RICKY ROLLING: 1B Ricky Oropesa got off to a slow start to the 2015 season, but he has hit his stride on the Squirrels current road trip. Oropesa has compiled three 3-hit games over the last four contests for the Squirrels. That includes his second home run of the year and three doubles. Entering play on Saturday in New Britain, Oropesa was batting just .127 and had notched just seven hits on the season. In the last four games, he has surpassed that hit total with nine and raised his season batting average to .219 (92 point increase).

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.

WHY YOU GOTTA BRING UP OLD BLEEP?: Although the Squirrels snapped their losing streak on Monday night in Altoona, it figures to 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.

THE LONG AND WINDING ROAD: The Squirrels have dropped eight of their first 10 road games 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 163-202 (.446), 39 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' five wins on the season have come against Bowie (2) and Altoona (3).

ALTOONA STARTING PITCHER: RHP Tyler Glasnow (2-0, 0.79)

Glasnow, 21, has compiled a remarkable track-record in professional baseball, and as a result, has ascended to the #1 prospect ranking in the Pittsburgh system. Including his four starts this season (2-0, 0.79), Glasnow has put together a 23-11 record with a minor league ERA of 1.85. He has dominated at every level he's been stationed, including a 1.74 ERA over 23 starts with Bradenton at the Advanced-A level last year. He has also compiled a remarkable 11.8 K:9 IP rate. In addition to being rated atop the Pirates' chain, Baseball America rates him as the 16th-best prospect in all of baseball. Originally a 5th round selection of the Pirates out of Hart High School in Santa Clarita, CA, Glasnow signed for $600,000. A towering 6'8", Glasnow's calling-card is his high 90s fastball. He is considered a potential front-line big league starter.

Check out the Richmond Flying Squirrels Statistics

Share: Facebook | Twitter/X | LinkedIn | Reddit | Email



Eastern League Stories from May 6, 2015


The opinions expressed in this release are those of the organization issuing it, and do not necessarily reflect the thoughts or opinions of OurSports Central or its staff.

OurSports Central