EL1 Richmond Flying Squirrels

Flying Squirrels Game Notes vs Altoona

Published on August 14, 2015 under Eastern League (EL1)
Richmond Flying Squirrels News Release


Richmond Flying Squirrels (SF) (59-58) vs. Altoona Curve (PIT) (62-56)

Friday, August 14th -- 7:05 PM

The Diamond -- Richmond, VA

Game #118 - Home Game #62

Radio: Fox Sports 910 (6:35 PM) Internet: FoxSportsRichmond.com

Richmond RHP Joan Gregorio (1-2, 3.02)

Altoona LHP Steven Brault (6-3, 2.80)

Saturday, August 15th ALT 6:05 PM Richmond RHP Joe Biagini (9-5, 2.37) vs. LHP Zack Dodson (5-10, 4.10)

Sunday, August 16th ALT 1:35 PM Richmond LHP Kelvin Marte (9-4, 2.53) vs. RHP Jason Creasy (8-7, 4.66)

TODAY'S FEED: Chicken Fiesta serves us tonight.Glad to report Jay and I made it safely back in one piece to Richmond late last night after a ridiculous amount of standstill traffic. Go Squirrels!

Giants update - Kelby Tomlinson recorded his first MLB extra base hit (triple) off of Stephen Strasburg last night!

SERIES AT A GLANCE: It has been a steady diet of Western Division opponents for the Flying Squirrels over the course of the week and this weekend is no different. Richmond is back at the The Diamond for their sixth and final series with the Altoona Curve during the regular season. Since the All-Star break in mid July, the Curve and Squirrels have collided 11 times (three series) and after this weekend it will become 14 meetings. This makes Altoona the most frequent opposition for the RVA in the post All-Star break schedule. The RVA is 9-8 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 on the road 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. Then, Altoona swept Richmond in three games (7/27-7/29) 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 that series all the way until the fourth inning in the opener against the Binghamton Mets (7/27-7/30, 23.2 innings). The most recent series occurred just a week ago and the Curve won that battle two games to one (8/7-8/9). Richmond has been shutout by Altoona five times and the fifth time happened in game one of this set. Richmond has dropped 13 of their last 19 games and this includes a six game losing streak in late July.

LOPSIDED: In the previous series, the Squirrels participated in four games with the Baysox that were each decided by four runs or more. The margins in two of the contests were separated by eight runs (11-3, Bowie win on 8/10 & 9-1 RVA win on 8/12). The starter pitchers ended up on the wrong side of the pillow throughout this series for Richmond. In total, they tossed 20 innings and allowed a collective 13 earned runs. Matt Lujan was the only starting hurler to document a shutout, but he only threw 64 pitches in a shortened 3.2 innings (first start off the DL). Matt Gage retired the first 11 batters he faced and ultimately fanned eight batters, however, he exited with the bases loaded. Braulio Lara came in and let up a hit, which meant those runs were charged to Gage. Kelvin Marte allowed a season high 11 hits and six earned runs in the opener of that series. Richmond has only played in one, one-run game in August and that was on the first of the month.

STARTED FROM THE BOTTOM: Richmond has won just two road games in their last 12 attempts. These two wins have come in the most recent road trip. However, the offense has come in full force in these victories. The bottom of the order has contributed significantly. In Sunday's 8-6 win over Altoona, the 6-7-8 hitters went a combined 5-15 with five RBI's (Ciriaco, Galindo, Zambrano). Then in Wednesday 9-1 thrashing against Bowie, the 6-7-8-9 hitters provided the bulk of the workload (Harris, Beltre, Williams, Galindo). In total, they collected nine hits of the 13 hits, scored five times, and recorded four RBI's. Devin Harris posted just his second double in August and led the crew with three RBI's. All of them had multi-hit games. Engel Beltre is 6-10 in these two games and 1-16 in the other five games on this trip. The Squirrels put up 29 hits over those two contests (8/9, 8/12). In the five other games, Richmond tallied the same number, 29 hits.

TORTOISE & THE HARE(RRIS): Devin Harris has come into his own over the last couple of days. He is 4-9 in the previous two games with four RBI's, a home run, and a double. Prior to this, he had just one RBI from July 26 to August 11. He also only registered two hits from July 30 to August 11. This is a guy that dominated the month of May with a .330 average and 14 doubles plus an Eastern League player of the week honor (5/25-5/31).

UPCOMING HOMESTAND PROMOTIONS: (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.

RICHMOND STARTING PITCHER: RHP Joan Gregorio (1-2, 3.02)

Gregorio, 23, has appeared in 33 games for the Squirrels this year and today will be his sixth spot-start (fourth straight) of the season. He was solid in his last start on August 8 (6.0 IP, 4 H, 1 R, 1 HR, 2 BB, 5 K). The 6-7 right-hander unleashed a season high 81 pitches on August 2 (4.2 IP-season high, 5 H, 0 R, 4 K). He was superb in his second start on July 21 with a season high four shutout innings with 52 pitches. He set down the first 10 batters he faced in this game and ultimately absorbed only one hit. Joan has plenty of experience as a starter. He has started 75 games dating back to his first professional season in 2010. Gregorio held a 4.37 ERA and started 17 games in 2014 while in Single-A (Augusta & San Jose). His longest bullpen outing in 2015 so far is 3.1 innings back on June 25. He was named the Giants #18 prospect following the 2014 season. He was signed as an international free agent by the Giants on March 2, 2010.

ALTOONA STARTING PITCHER: LHP Steven Brault (6-3, 2.80)

Brault, 23, will make his 24rd start of the season and 11th with the Curve. This is his fourth start against the Squirrels (second consecutive).The lefty has seen familiar competition over the last couple of weeks. He has faced either Richmond or Akron in his last five starts. Brault's most recent start occurred on August 8 against the Squirrels (7.0 IP, 5 H, 0 R, 1 BB, 7 K). He was just named Easter League Pitcher of the Week (7/27-8/2) after two strong outings where he went 2-0 with a 1.50 ERA and registered 15 strikeouts. One of these outings came against the Squirrels on July 28 (6.0 IP, 2 H, 0 R, 9 K). The Baltimore Orioles originally drafted the southpaw in the 11th round in 2013. He was recently traded to Pittsburgh this past offseason in a deal that involved big leaguer Travis Snider. Brault sported a 2.77 ERA in 2014 with Delmarva (A) and Frederick (A+) while still in the Orioles system. This year he began in Bradenton A(Adv) and made 13 starts with a 3.02 ERA.

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Eastern League Stories from August 14, 2015


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