EL1 Richmond Flying Squirrels

Richmond Flying Squirrels Game Notes

Published on July 15, 2010 under Eastern League (EL1)
Richmond Flying Squirrels News Release


RICHMOND FLYING SQUIRRELS (42-48) VS. BOWIE BAYSOX (48-43)

RHP FELIX ROMERO (2-1, 3.63) VS. RHP STEVE JOHNSON (3-6, 6.14)

July 15, 2010 -- 7:05 PM

The Diamond

Game #92/Home #45

Radio Broadcast -- Sports Radio 910 WRNL

Internet Webcast -- www.sportsradio910.com

TONIGHT: The Richmond Flying Squirrels and Bowie Baysox will meet in game one of a four-game series...The Flying Squirrels series finale with the Altoona Curve on Monday afternoon at Blair County Ballpark was suspended due to rain in the bottom of the fourth inning with Richmond ahead 6-3.

TONIGHT'S STARTERS: Right-hander Felix Romero gets the start in the opener of the series for the Flying Squirrels...Earned the win in his last start at Altoona 7/9...Allowed one run on six hits in seven innings...Struck out five batters and walked none...

Retired 13 of the final 15 batters he faced...Recorded 11 fly outs and five ground outs...Has issued just one walk over his last 32 2/3 innings while striking out 24 batters over that span...Has gone 17 consecutive innings without walking a batter...Is 2-1 with a 2.63 ERA (11ER/37.2 IP) in six starts with Richmond...Entering the season, his longest outing was four innings...Prior to this season, had not started since 8/21/08 against Toledo while with Triple-A Norfolk...Began the season with Triple-A Fresno and appeared in seven games going 0-0 with a 6.52 ERA...Spent all of 2009 with Fresno and appeared in 50 games, all in relief and second-most on the club (Geno Espineli - 52)...Went 5-5 with a 4.28 ERA...Struck out 69 batters and walked 16 over 73 2/3 innings...Signed by the San Francisco Giants as a minor league free agent December 18, 2008...Originally signed as a non-drafted by the Toronto Blue Jays in 1998...Has spent time with the Blue Jays, Red Sox, Orioles, and Giants organizations over his nine-year professional career...Did not play in 2006...Is the oldest member of the Flying Squirrels roster.

Right-hander Steve Johnson gets the nod in game one of the series for the Baysox...Suffered the loss in his last start at Erie 7/8...Allowed seven runs on a season-high 10 hits in just 2 2/3 innings...Struck out one batter and walked two...Has not won since 6/12 at Harrisburg...Is 0-3 over his last four starts with an 11.49 ERA...Has allowed 21 runs, 20 earned, on 29 hits over his last 15 2/3 innings while walking 13 batters and striking out eight...Is 0-1 with a 1.06 ERA in three starts against Richmond this season...Has allowed just two runs on 12 hits in 17 innings of work against the Flying Squirrels while striking out 14 batters and walking eight...Traded from LAD along with INF Josh Bell to BAL in exchange for LHP George Sherrill...Rated as the #15 prospect in the LAD farm system entering the 2009...Originally selected by the LAD in the 13th round of the 2005 First-Year Player Draft...Native of Kingsville, Md....Is the son of former BAL pitcher and current Orioles broadcaster Dave Johnson.

SUSPENSION: The Flying Squirrels contest with Altoona was suspended on Monday with Richmond leading 6-3 in the bottom of the fourth inning...The game will be complete in its entirety (nine innings) on Thursday, August 26th, beginning at 5:30 PM...The scheduled contest for the 26th will be a seven-inning game and will take place following the conclusion of the suspended game...It was the second suspended game of the season for the Flying Squirrels with the only other one occurring on Opening Day, 4/8, as Richmond ended up losing to Bowie 6-4...The club won the seven-inning scheduled game 2-0.

OPENING NUMBER: The Flying Squirrels have won seven of the last eight series openers and are 19-8 in series openers this season...However, the club is just 4-14 following their series-opening wins over their last eight series...Richmond is 2-5 over its last seven series with both series victories coming against the Erie SeaWolves.

TAKING THE BELT-WAY: First baseman Brandon Belt has hits in each of his last eight games...Over the last eight contests, the 22-year-old is 13-for-32 (.406) with four home runs, five RBI, and six runs scored...He is currently averaging a home run every 8.75 at-bats with the Flying Squirrels...In 86 games combined between Advanced-A San Jose and Double-A Richmond, Belt leads all of minor league baseball in batting average (.382) and on-base percentage (.485) and is third in hits (116) and ranks fifth in slugging percentage (.641).

THE WEATHER MAN: Third baseman Conor Gillaspie is hitting .406 (13-for-32) in 11 games this month...He has walked four times and has only struck out three times so far this month...Gillaspie is hitting .308 (49-for-159) in 42 games on the road while batting just .230 (35-for-152) in 43 games at home.

STORMY SKY-LER: Super utility man Skyler Stromsmoe is just 1-for-14 (.071) over his last five games with five strikeouts and no walks...The 26-year-old is 0-for-5 with runners in scoring position over that span and is hitting just .162 (6-for-37) with runners in scoring position on the season.

ERROR OMISSION: The Flying Squirrels have gone four consecutive games without committing an error...It's the longest streak without an error for the club since going a season-long six straight games without an error 6/5-6/11...Richmond currently leads the Eastern League in fielding percentage (.983) and has committed the second-fewest errors (61).

DOUBLETREE DOWNTOWN DOUBLE PLAYS: The Richmond Flying Squirrels have turned 117 double plays in 90 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.

CFS STAT OF THE NIGHT: The six runs scored by the Flying Squirrels through three innings on Monday were the most by the club after three frames this season...Richmond's previous high was four runs scored through three innings...Entering Monday's game, the team was averaging less than a run scored through the first three frames (0.94)...The Flying Squirrels are averaging 1.43 runs per game through the middle innings (4th-6th) and 1.06 runs per game over the final three plus extra frames...Entering Monday's contest, the highest run-producing inning for the club was the fifth (46 runs).

Check out the Richmond Flying Squirrels Statistics

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Eastern League Stories from July 15, 2010


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