EL1 Richmond Flying Squirrels

Flying Squirrels Game Notes

Published on May 25, 2010 under Eastern League (EL1)
Richmond Flying Squirrels News Release


TONIGHT: The Richmond Flying Squirrels and Binghamton Mets will meet in game two of a four-game series...Brandon Crawford's leadoff home run in the top of the eighth inning put the Flying Squirrels on top 3-2 as Richmond held on to get the series-opening win in the opener of the four-game series on Monday night at NYSEG Stadium.

TONIGHT'S STARTERS: Left-hander Craig Clark gets the start in game two of the series for the Flying Squirrels...Received a no-decision in his last outing 5/20 against Erie...Allowed one unearned run on four hits in 5 2/3 innings...Struck out four and walked two...All four hits allowed were singles...Threw 99 pitches, 59 strikes...Went three balls in the count to eight of the 22 batters he faced...Recorded nine fly outs and two ground outs...Retired the leadoff batter in five of his six innings on the mound...Outing matched his longest on the season...Has given up just two runs, both unearned, in his last two starts...Is 1-0 with a 1.72 ERA (5R/3ER in 15 2/3 IP) over his last three outings since giving up eight runs in 3 2/3 innings on 5/4 against Altoona...Left-handed batters hitting just .229 (8-for-35) against him while right-handed batters are hitting .271 (29-for-107)...Opponents hitting .333 (11-for-33) against him with runners in scoring position...Has received just 13 runs of support during eight appearances (1.63) while allowing 20 runs in his eight outings (2.5 R/GS).

Right-hander Eddie Kunz gets the nod in game two of the four-game series for the B-Mets...Suffered the loss in his last start 5/20 against Bowie after giving up five runs, four earned, on eight hits in five innings of work...Has tossed five innings or more in each of his last five starts...Has gone more than five innings just once this season (5/3 at Erie)...Has walked 24 batters and has struck out 24 batters in 38 1/3 innings...Is 1-1 with a 4.29 ERA in four starts this month having walked eight batters and struck out 15 in 21 innings...Went 2-2 with a 8.83 ERA in his four starts in April, walking 16 batters and striking out nine in 17 1/3 innings of work...Spent all of 2009 with Triple-A Buffalo going 4-5 with a 5.02 ERA in 40 appearances, all in relief...Struck out 38 batters and walked 31 in 61 innings of work...Named an Eastern League Post-Season All-Star with Binghamton in 2008 after going 1-4 with a 2.79 ERA in 44 appearances...Went 27-for-30 in save opportunities...Made his Major League debut with the Mets in 2008 and went 0-0 with a 13.50 ERA in four appearances...Selected by the New York Mets in the first round (#42 overall) of the 2007 First-Year Player Draft...Attended Oregon State University...Was a teammate of Flying Squirrels right-hander Daniel Turpen on the back-to-back CWS championship teams...Enters 2010 rated as the #25 prospect in the New York Mets farm system according to Baseball America.

RAFAEL'S MASTERPIECE: Right-hander Rafael Cova recorded his ninth save last night in his ninth attempt...It was just the second time this season he had to work more than one inning to record a save (4/15 vs. Reading) and was his first save opportunity since 5/7 at Harrisburg...The 28-year-old ranks third in the Eastern League with his nine saves...He has allowed just two runs, one earned, in 15 1/3 innings of work and opposing batters are hitting just .148 against him which would rank second in the league if he had enough innings pitched to qualify.

THOMAS THE TRAIN: Outfielder Thomas Neal collected his team-leading 13th multi-hit game last night as he went 2-for-4 including his third home run of the season...He is the only Flying Squirrel batter to have reached double-digits in multi-hit games...The 22-year-old had not homered since April 23rd when he hit a pair of home runs at Reading (28G/111AB)...The California-native is hitting .290 (27-for-93) in 27 games in May after hitting .231 (18-for-78) in 21 games in April...Since April 30th, his average has climbed from .231 to .263.

THE DON JUAN: Super utility man Juan Ciriaco is 10-for-20 (.500) at the plate over his last eight games with three doubles, a triple, three RBI and four runs scored...He has walked once and has not struck out over that span...The 26-year-old has multi-hit performances in each of his last three starts...Ciriaco has started games at third base (4), short stop (3), second base (1), first base (1) and in right field (2) and left field (1) since being sent down from Triple-A Fresno.

SOMETHING BRUIN: Shortstop Brandon Crawford is 11-for-32 (.344) with hits in eight of his last nines games including each of the last seven...He is one game shy of matching his season-long hit streak..Crawford has a double, a triple, two home runs, four RBI over his last eight contests, and he has scored a run in each of his last seven games...The UCLA product has also walked seven times and struck out seven times over that span and has seen his average rise from .225 to .252...Crawford's five home runs lead the team.

NO SHOCKER: Third baseman Conor Gillaspie is hitting .406 (13-for-32) over his last eight games after being left out of the starting line up on consecutive days (5/13, 5/14) against Altoona...The 22-year-old has two doubles, a triple, six RBI, and five runs scored over his last eight games...He has struck out just twice and has walked once...The former first-round pick out of Wichita State is also 6-for-8 with runners in scoring position over that span with five RBI...His average has climbed from .198 to .243.

BURNT KIESCH-NICK: Outfielder Roger Kieschnick is 0-for-34 over his last nine games since seeing his five-game hit streak come to an end...He has struck out seven times and has walked once over that span...The 23-year-old seen his average dip from .306 to .239...Kieschnick was 8-for-15 (.533) over his five-game hitting streak with three home runs, nine RBI, and three runs scored.

MAKING THEIR PITCH: The Flying Squirrels' pitching staff leads the Eastern League with a 2.89 ERA...The club has also allowed an Eastern League-low 140 runs...Richmond pitching leads the Eastern League with seven shutouts.

CFS STAT OF THE NIGHT: Richmond improved to 7-6 in one-run games with last night's 3-2 win over Binghamton...35 of the Flying Squirrels' first 44 games have been decided by three runs or less (80%).

DOUBLETREE DOWNTOWN DOUBLE PLAYS: The Richmond Flying Squirrels have turned 54 double plays in 44 games including six on 5/7 in Harrisburg...The club leads the Eastern League in double plays turned and has not gone more than two games without turning a double play.

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Eastern League Stories from May 25, 2010


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