EL1 Richmond Flying Squirrels

Flying Squirrels Game Notes at Altoona

Published on August 7, 2015 under Eastern League (EL1)
Richmond Flying Squirrels News Release


Richmond Flying Squirrels (SF) (57-53) vs. Altoona Curve (PIT) (59-53)

Friday, August 7th -- 7:00 PM

Peoples Natural Gas Field -- Altoona, PA

Game #111 - Road Game #50

Radio: Fox Sports 910 (6:30 PM) Internet: FoxSportsRichmond.com

Richmond RHP Tyler Beede (2-5, 5.51)

Altoona LHP Tom Harlan (5-2, 3.88)

Saturday, August 8th @ALT 6:00 PM Richmond RHP Joan Gregorio (1-1, 3.20) vs. LHP Steven Brault (5-3, 3.21)

Sunday, August 9th @ALT 6:00 PM Richmond TBA vs. LHP Zack Dodson (5-9, 3.98)

TODAY'S FEED: Ladies and gentlemen...Jay Burnham and I have taken to the road for the wonders of Altoona, PA. Our first stop was at a quaint Virginia Farmer's Market right off the highway. Jay's '98 Volvo is in great shape as we speak. Will keep you posted on the events that occur during this journey.

Giants Update - 5-4 loss to the Cubs last night.

SERIES AT A GLANCE: The Squirrels embark on a seven-game roadtrip and the first pit stop is in Altoona, PA for a pivotal showdown with the Altoona Curve (Pittsburgh Pirates). Richmond is stationed just one game back of the second place Curve in the Western Division standings. The RVA is 9-6 against the Curve so far this season. The first series ended up being just two games due to a postponement. The Squirrels split those two games losing the second one 3-0, which was the start to the 15-game losing skid. The revenge came in early May (5/4-5/7) when the club swept Altoona in four games. The first game of this series marked the conclusion of the long losing streak. These two squads waited nearly two months before they crossed paths again, which was right out of the gates after the All-Star break (7/16-7/19). They tangled in an epic five-game set and the Squirrels took three of these contest. Pitching coated this series as the five winning hurlers were all starters and they tossed a total of 30 innings and yielded only three earned runs. In the most recent battle between the two teams, Altoona swept Richmond in three games and posted back-to-back shutout victories to conclude the series. It was the first time the Squirrels had been swept since early May (5/1-5/3 vs. New Britain). Richmond was held off the scoreboard from the eighth inning in game one of the recent series all the way until the fourth inning in the opener against the Binghamton Mets (7/27-7/30, 23.2 innings). Altoona leads the Eastern League in hitting with a team batting average of .275. The Curve have dropped three of their last four series (only win vs. Richmond).

MOTHER NATURE TAKES CONTROL: Heavy rain invaded the RVA Thursday night and interrupted play at approximately 9:09 p.m. while in the bottom of the eighth inning. The delay lasted one hour and 36 minutes. Richmond only produced five hits and that is the fewest total since July 30 (five hits) when they lost 11-3 to Binghamton. The game itself yesterday was only two hours and 30 minutes long. With one runner on base, Hunter Cole blasted a ball to the warning track in center field to end the game (2-0 loss) after nearly extending it to extras. Instead, this game is archived as the 12th shutout loss for Richmond this season. The Squirrels were held off the scoreboard 11 times in all of 2014. Other recent games that included long delays for Richmond were against Akron on July 4 (2:07) and Trenton on June 25 (3:03).

COLE WORLD STAYS HOT: Hunter Cole just continues to tear the cover off of the baseball. He was primarily placed in the third spot in the lineup (24 games) prior to a recent change. The former Georgia Bulldog has relocated into the fourth spot in the order and it has not stopped his strong performances. He has gone 9-22 since being moved to the clean-up spot. Cole has smacked four doubles as well as two home runs since the change in the batting order. He also lead the team with 10 hits throughout the last homestand. The 22-year-old holds a .320 average in 34 games and that is best on the team.

ONE COLLAPSE PROMPTED BLANK SCORECARDS: On July 30, the Richmond relievers allowed a collective 10 runs in an 11-3 defeat. Since the bullpen imploded for 10 runs that day, the relievers have completely directed traffic. The bullpen was really tested on July 31 after starter Joe Biagini departed earlier than expected. He lasted only 21 pitches (1.0 IP) due to back pain. The bullpen did not allow a run in eight innings during that day. The Squirrels' relief pitchers have not allowed a run in their last 24.1 innings of work (7/31-Current, since the 10 run epidemic). The longest scoreless streak documented by the bullpen this season is 25 innings (5/23-5/29).

BULLPEN TREASURES: Kyle Crick has had quite the turnaround. The right-hander has thrown seven scoreless innings in his last seven appearances (one inning per outing). He leads the Eastern League with 57 walks, but has only issued five during this span. He walked two batters in his last outing, but worked out of a bases loaded jam. If you want a groundball out, just go find Squirrels relief pitcher Tyler Mizenko. On Saturday, the right-hander tossed two innings out of the bullpen and every out was from a groundball. The remarkable consistency does not stop there. In his last three outings (4.0 IP total), all of Mizenko's outs have been from the groundball. The last time Mizenko recorded a fly ball out was on July 25 against Erie in the bottom of the eighth inning. Recently, he has been a lock down reliever as a whole with just one earned run allowed in his last 11.1 IP.

UPCOMING HOMESTAND PROMOTIONS: (8/6) Thursday Night In Your Face Fireworks and Faith Night #2. (8/14) Free Shirt Fridays, Happy Hour & Ladies Night and Grateful Dead Tribute. (8/15) Superblast Saturday and 2nd Annual Guns & Hoses. (8/16) Tribute to the Toy Hall of Fame and Nutzy Bubbles Giveaway. (8/24) Williamsburg Community Night. (8/25) Fredericksburg Community Night. (8/26) Fleece Blanket Giveaway.

ALTOONA PITCHER: LHP Tom Harlan (5-2, 3.88)

Harlan prepares for just his fourth start and 29th appearance of the season tonight. He has faced Richmond three times in his career. His first time was a start against the Squirrels on August 26, 2014 (5.1 IP, 4 H, 2 R, 2 HR-one from Myles Schroder, 4 BB, 1 K). Harlan has been used out of the bullpen in the other two outings this year on May 6 and July 18 (both appearances-4.0 IP, 1 H, 1 R, 6 K). The southpaw was drafted in the 13th round in 2013 by the Pirates. Throughout his career, the 25-year-old has been a bullpen arm with 114 appearances and just 14 starts. In 2014, he began the season with Bradenton (A+) and did not start once in his 21 outings (2.49 ERA, 41 K, 9 BB, 50.2 IP). Harlan earned a promotion to Altoona later in the year and reversed course as he started 10 games the remainder of the season at the Double-A level. The California native played his college ball at Fresno State. His freshman year was in 2009, which was one year after the school captured a College World Series title in 2008.

Check out the Richmond Flying Squirrels Statistics

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



Eastern League Stories from August 7, 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