EL1 Richmond Flying Squirrels

Richmond Flying Squirrels Game Notes

Published on July 20, 2010 under Eastern League (EL1)
Richmond Flying Squirrels News Release


RICHMOND FLYING SQUIRRELS (44-51) VS. TRENTON THUNDER (57-38)

RHP FELIX ROMERO (2-1, 3.88) VS. RHP HECTOR NOESI (6-1, 1.74)

July 20, 2010 -- 7:05 PM

The Diamond

Game #96/Home #50

Radio Broadcast -- Sports Radio 910 WRNL

Internet Webcast -- www.sportsradio910.com

TONIGHT: The Richmond Flying Squirrels and Trenton Thunder will meet in game two of a three-game series...The Thunder rolled to a 6-0 series-opening win over the Flying Squirrels on Monday night at The Diamond.

TONIGHT'S STARTERS: Right-hander Felix Romero gets the start in game two of the series for the Flying Squirrels...Received a no-decision in his last outing against Bowie 7/15...Allowed four runs on seven hits in 5 2/3 innings...Struck out five batters and walked one...Retired the leadoff batter in four of his six innings on the mound...Recorded seven fly outs and four ground outs...Threw 85 pitches, 59 strikes...Start was his shortest since 6/12 at Reading...Had gone six innings or more over his five starts and had worked into the seven inning in each of his last four outings...Walk issued in the fourth inning ended a string of 20 2/3 innings without allowing a walk...Has issued just two walks over his last 38 1/3 innings (0.47 BB/9IP) and has struck out 29 over that span...Is 2-1 with a 3.12 ERA (15ER/43.1 IP) in seven 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 Hector Noesi gets the nod in game two of the series for the Thunder...Last outing came in All-Star Futures Game 7/11...Allowed one hit in a scoreless inning of work...Limited to three innings in his last start with Trenton...Worked three scoreless frames and allowed three hits while striking out four batters and walking none...Has allowed two runs or less in each of his last nine starts and is 6-1 with a 1.13 ERA over that span...Has given up 10 runs, seven earned, on 41 hits in his last 56 innings on the mound while striking out 51 batters and walking 10...Has made one start against Richmond and allowed two runs on six hits in seven innings of work...Struck out 10 batters and walked one...Began the season with Advanced-A Tampa and went 5-2 with a 2.72 ERA in eight starts...Struck out 53 batters and walked six in 43 innings of work...Is tied for third in the minors with 11 wins...Made nine starts with Tampa in 2009 and went 3-0 with a 3.93 ERA...Began the 2009 season with Low-A Charleston and went 3-4 with a 2.38 ERA in 17 appearances including 11 starts...Was named a 2009 South Atlantic League Mid-Season All-Star...Missed most of 2007 and 2008 due to Tommy John surgery...Signed by the New York Yankees as a non-drafted free agent, December 3, 2004 ...Enters the 2010 season rated as the #24 prospect in the New York Yankees farm system according to Baseball America...Member of the New York Yankees 40-man roster.

CASE OF THE MONDAYS: The Flying Squirrels were shutout for the sixth time this season in last night's 6-0 defeat against Trenton...It was the third time the club has been shutout this month (7/3 vs. Erie, 7/7 at Harrisburg)...It was the ninth shutout of the year tossed by the Thunder, tops in the Eastern League.

WHERE DID THE "O" GO?: The Flying Squirrels were held to just four hits in last night's 6-0 loss to the Thunder...It was the lowest hit total for the club since 7/10 at Altoona when Richmond also recorded four hits...The Flying Squirrels hit .310 (44-for-142) over the four-game series with the Baysox and registered 10-plus hits in all four games.

MISSED OPPORTUNTIES: Richmond went 1-for-9 with runners in scoring position last night and stranded nine runners on base...Over the first five games of the current seven-game homestand, the club is just 9-for-45 (.200) with runners in scoring position and the Flying Squirrels have stranded 39 runners on base (7.8RS/G)...Overall on the season, the club is hitting .208 with runners in scoring position.

THE WEATHER MAN: Third baseman Conor Gillaspie has hits in each of his last five games...The 23-year-old is 8-for-18 (.444) over his last five games with a double, triple, RBI and three runs scored...His longest hitting streak of the season is six games...In 15 games this month, he is hitting .391 (18-for-46); however, only three of his 18 hits in July have gone for extra bases (a double and two triples)...He has walked seven times and has struck out five times so far this month...Gillaspie is hitting .308 (49-for-159) in 42 games on the road while batting just .241 (40-for-166) in 47 games at home.

UNBUCKLING THE BELT: In 91 games combined between Advanced-A San Jose and Double-A Richmond, first baseman Brandon Belt leads all of minor league baseball in batting average (.383) and on-base percentage (.483) and is third in slugging percentage (.645) and is fifth in hits (124).

ERROR REPORT: The Flying Squirrels have committed a pair of errors over the past two games after going seven straight games without an error...It was the longest error-free stretch of games for the club this season...All three errors over the last two games have been committed by the starting pitchers...Richmond is still tied for the Eastern League lead in fielding percentage (.983) and the club has committed the second-fewest errors (63).

DOUBLETREE DOWNTOWN DOUBLE PLAYS: The Richmond Flying Squirrels have turned 123 double plays in 95 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...Richmond has failed to turn two in each of the last two games.

CFS STAT OF THE NIGHT: After tossing five innings or more in each of his 15 outings with Advanced-A Bakersfield, right-hander Michael Main has failed to make it out of the fifth inning in any of his three starts with the Flying Squirrels.

Check out the Richmond Flying Squirrels Statistics

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Eastern League Stories from July 20, 2010


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