Sports stats

EL Richmond Flying Squirrels

Richmond Flying Squirrels Game Information: July 30, 2022

July 30, 2022 - Eastern League (EL)
Richmond Flying Squirrels News Release


YESTERDAY: The Flying Squirrels snapped a three-game slide with an 8-1 win over the Patriots. Kyle Harrison started on the mound and worked around three hits and three walks with five strikeouts to post three scoreless innings. Brett Auerbach gave Richmond a 1-0 lead in the first with an RBI infield single. In the second, Tyler Fitzgerald hit a three-run homer to push the lead to 4-0. Auerbach brought in a second RBI with a sac fly to give the Flying Squirrels a 5-0 lead in the fifth. In the bottom of the sixth, Franklin Labour hit a three-run homer to open an 8-0 lead. Anthony Volpe broke the shutout with a sac fly in the top of the ninth. Richmond relievers Taylor Rashi, Chris Wright and Ryan Walker combined for five scoreless innings.

TODAY'S GAME: The Flying Squirrels play the fifth of a six-game series against the Somerset Patriots, Double-A affiliate of the New York Yankees. This series is the only set of games between the two teams this year. The Flying Squirrels went 5-7 against the Patriots last season, including a 4-2 record at The Diamond.

TICKET PUNCHED: The Flying Squirrels clinched the Eastern League Southwest Division First-Half title with a win on May 26 paired with a loss by the Akron RubberDucks against the Harrisburg Senators. Richmond finished the first half tied with Akron, but held the tiebreaker with a 7-5 head-to-head record. The league adopted the split-season format in 2019. After playing a full-season system last year, they returned to the split-season format this year. The Flying Squirrels will play in the Eastern League playoffs for the third time in franchise history. In 2011, they swept the Senators in the division series before falling to the Fisher Cats in the ELCS, three games to one. In 2014, they eliminated the RubberDucks in four games before being swept in the championship series by the Binghamton Mets.

THE FLYING SQUIRRELS have gone 8-17 to open the second half. They have lost nine-of-the-last-11 games, including a sea- son-high six-game losing streak from July 14-23 and three straight before Friday night's win over the Patriots. The Flying Squir- rels have won seven series, lost six and split three this year. Richmond hitters lead the league with 1,028 strikeouts (10.9 per game) and rank third with 119 homers. The Flying Squirrels are 27-22 at home this year. Richmond is 22-18 in games decided by two-or-less runs and 9-13 overall against teams from the Northeast Division, all at The Diamond.

THE PATRIOTS have won seven-of-the-last-nine games since July 16, including a three-game sweep at home against Reading last weekend. Their six-game win streak was snapped on Friday night. Somerset went 44-25 in the first half, winning the first- half division title by one game over Hartford. They clinched their postseason spot with a walk-off homer by Anthony Volpe against Hartford in the bottom of the 10th inning on June 26. Somerset is leading the Eastern League in homers (137) and stolen bases (153). Their pitching staff has the best ERA (3.50) in the league. Somerset's roster including nine of MLB.com's top-30 prospects, including SS Anthony Volpe (No. 1, No. 8 overall), C Austin Wells (No. 4, No. 71 overall), OF Everson Pereira (No. 10), RHP Luis Medina (No. 11), RHP Randy Vasquez (No. 15), OF Brandon Lockridge (No. 17), OF Elijah Dunham (No. 24), RHP Will Warren (No. 25) and RHP Deivi Garcia (No. 26).

FOR RICHMOND: Right-hander Kai-Wei Teng makes his league-leading 20th start of the season. He last pitched on Sunday afternoon against the Baysox and allowed six runs in two innings before the Flying Squirrels rallied for a 7-6 win. In his last two starts since July 17, Teng has gone 0-1 with a 19.80 ERA (11 ER/5.0 IP). Over his previous five starts from June 18-July 12, Teng went 3-1 with a 2.93 ERA (10 ER/30.2 IP). He is leading the Eastern League in games started (19), ranks fifth in strikeouts (97) and fifth in innings pitched (91.0). Teng spent the entire 2021 season with the High-A Eugene Emeralds, going 5-6 with a 4.33 ERA in 21 starts. For the season, Teng led the High-A West with 142 strikeouts, ranked tied for second with 21 games started, tied for first with one complete game and sixth with 95.2 innings pitched. He also ranked fourth in the Giants system in strikeouts. Teng was originally signed by the Minnesota Twins out of Taiwan in 2017. During his second season in 2018, he was traded to the Giants along with outfielder Jaylin Davis in exchange for right-handed pitcher Sam Dyson. For more on Teng, see page two.

FOR SOMERSET: Right-hander Sean Boyle makes his 18th start of the year. Last time out, he pitched six scoreless innings in a no-decision against Reading last Saturday night in Bridgewater. He went 4-4 with a 5.43 ERA (41 ER/68.0 IP) in his first 13 starts of the year through June 29, but has gone 3-0 with a 0.35 ERA (1 ER/26.0 IP) in his last four starts since July 4. Entering tonight's start, Boyle has not allowed a run in 17.1 consecutive innings since July 10. Last year, he pitched four relief appearances for the Patriots, going 2-0 with a 1.32 ERA. Overall, he pitched at four different levels in 2021, combining to go 8-3 with a 1.99 ERA in 27 games (10 starts). Boyle was selected in the 25th round of the 2018 MLB Draft by the Yankees out of Dallas Baptist University.

PACKING THE HOUSE: This season, the Richmond Flying Squirrels are leading all of Double-A in total attendance (288,415) and average attendance (6,136). Richmond is 14th of the 120 MiLB teams in average attendance. The 9,810 fans at The Diamond on Opening Night and again on July 4 are the largest crowds in all of Double-A this year.

MOVING UP: On Friday, Flying Squirrels infielder Shane Matheny was promoted to Triple-A Sacramento. He left Richmond ranked fifth in the Eastern League in OBP (.391), eighth in walks (46) and 10th in wRC+ (132). In his last at-bat prior to the promo- tion, Matheny hit a two-run homer on Friday night, his 10th of the year. From May 14-June 10, he posted a 13-game hitting streak, tied for the longest in the EL this season at the time. From May 1-June 11, Matheny posted a 24-game on-base streak, which was the second-longest in the league this season.

POWER SURGE: The Richmond offense has hit 119 home runs this season, which is third in the Eastern League behind Somer- set (137) and Erie (122). Sean Roby is second in the league with 23 homers on the season, with 19 coming at The Diamond. Last year, the Flying Squirrels set a franchise record with 127 homers, surpassing the previous record of 109 from 2013. This year, the Flying Squirrels are on pace to hit 175 home runs. The Flying Squirrels have already hit more homers than entire seasons in every season except 2021, including 2010 (71), 2011 (83) 2012 (76), 2013 (109), 2014 (74) and 2015 (61), 2016 (83), 2017 (93) and 2019 (84).

GO, DIEGO, GO!: After hitting .173 (22-for-127) over his first 35 games of the season, Diego Rincones is batting .328 (44-for-134) with six doubles, seven homers and 28 RBIs over his last 35 games since June 7. He went 4-for-4 with a homer last Saturday, his second four-hit game of the season. He added two hits on Sunday afternoon, including a game-winning single. Rincones is 0-for-14 in four games in this week's series against the Patriots.

ROBUST: Sean Roby hit his 21st homer of the year on July 4 against the Fightin Phils, moving him ahead of David Villar for the most home runs in a season in Flying Squirrels franchise history. He added his 22nd homer on July 7 and his 23rd on July 9. Roby is second in the EL in home runs this year behind New Hampshire's Orelvis Martinez (24). He has hit 19 homers at The Diamond this season, which is a new record for the most at home for a Flying Squirrels player in franchise history, ahead of 10 by Adam Duvall in 2013. It is also a new franchise record for the most career homers at The Diamond. He has also set the franchise record for the most multi-homer games in a season and a career with four.

FITZ ON FIRE: Tyler Fitzgerald homered five times, all solo shots, over a six-game span from July 10-17 heading into the mid-season break. In that stretch, he hit .421 (8-for-19). He went deep in the series finale against Reading on July 10. He added a solo homer on July 14 in Altoona, hit two solo homers on July 15 and hit another on July 17 in the series finale. In his first four games out of the mid-season break from July 22-27, he went 0-for-14, but he has picked up three hits in his last three games, including a three-run homer on Saturday night.

IN THE LEAGUE LEADERS: Frankie Tostado is ranked sixth in batting average (.284). Sean Roby is second in homers (23) and 10th in SLG (.493). Shane Matheny is fourth in OBP (.391) and tied for ninth in walks (46). Mike Gigliotti is ninth in OBP (.375), eighth in walks (47) and tied for fourth in stolen bases (23). Tyler Fitzgerald is tied for ninth in homers (16).

WHERE THE PATRIOTS RANK: In the Eastern League, Anthony Volpe is tied for third in doubles (25), first in extra-base hits (41), tied for fourth in total bases (155), tied for third in runs scored (56) and second in stolen bases (37). Jeisson Rosario is seventh in walks (48). Elijah Dunham is third in stolen bases (27). Michael Beltre is tied for fourth in stolen bases (23). Carson Coleman is tied for fifth in saves (8). Sean Boyle is ranked eighth in ERA (4.02), tied for first in wins (7), fourth in strikeouts (101), third in innings pitched (94.0), seventh in BAA (.234), fourth in WHIP (1.09) and third in winning percentage (.636).

PROSPECT WATCH: The Flying Squirrels have five players ranked in Baseball America's Top-30 Giants prospects, including Kyle Harrison (2), Ryan Murphy (11), Cole Waites (19), Ricardo Genovés (27) and Chris Wright (30). Franklin Labour is rated by Baseball America as having the "Best Outfield Arm." Harrison is rated by Baseball America as having the "Best Slider" in the organization. Waites is listed as having the "Best Fastball." MLB.com's Top-30 Giants prospect list includes Harrison (2), Murphy (11), Brett Auerbach (27), Genovés (29) and Kai-Wei Teng (30). Harrison is Baseball America's No. 21 overall prospect and MLB.

Check out the Richmond Flying Squirrels Statistics



Eastern League Stories from July 30, 2022


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.

Other Recent Richmond Flying Squirrels Stories



Sports Statistics from the Stats Crew
OurSports Central