EL1 Richmond Flying Squirrels

Richmond Flying Squirrels Game Notes

Published on July 30, 2010 under Eastern League (EL1)
Richmond Flying Squirrels News Release


RICHMOND FLYING SQUIRRELS (50-55) VS. ALTOONA CURVE (60-44)

RHP MIKE MACDONALD (2-7, 4.67) VS. LHP TONY WATSON (3-0, 2.30)

July 30, 2010 -- 7:05 PM

The Diamond

Game #106/Home #56

Radio Broadcast -- Sports Radio 910 WRNL

Internet Webcast -- www.sportsradio910.com

TONIGHT: The Richmond Flying Squirrels and the Altoona Curve will meet in game two of a four-game series...The Flying Squirrels got a two-out, two-run homer from Thomas Neal in the bottom of the sixth inning and led the rest of the way in a 4-1 series-opening win over the Curve on Thursday night at The Diamond.

TONIGHT'S STARTERS: Right-hander Mike MacDonald gets the start in game two of the series for the Flying Squirrels...Suffered the loss in his last start at Bowie 7/25...Allowed four runs on eight hits in 4 1/3 innings...Struck out three batters and walked none...Seven of the eight hits he allowed were singles...Gave up two runs and four hits in the third inning...Allowed the leadoff batter to reach twice in five innings...Scored both times...Recorded five ground outs and five fly outs...Threw 78 pitches, 52 strikes...Threw three pitches or less to 12 of the 22 batters he faced...Has not gone five complete innings since 6/27 at Erie (five appearances, one start)...Club is 3-13 in his 16 starts...Averaging 1.88 runs of support during his 16 starts...Left-handed batters are hitting .378 (56-for-148) against him...Has not lost in seven appearances, four starts, in his career against Altoona (1-0 with a 4.03 ERA)...Is 2-7 with a 4.84 ERA in 16 starts...Was 0-0 with a 3.38 ERA in four relief appearances...Is 1-2 with a 3.15 ERA in eight appearances, six starts, with a .275 batting average against at home...Is 1-5 with a 5.86 ERA in 12 appearances, 10 starts, with a .348 batting average against on the road.

Left-hander Tony Watson gets the nod in game two of the series for the Curve...Made his first start of the season and suffered the loss against Trenton 7/25...Allowed season-highs in runs and hits as he surrended four runs on six hits in three innings of work...Struck out two batters and walked none...Was 3-0 with a 1.84 ERA and two saves in 25 relief appearances...Held batters to a .173 batting average against in relief, lowest among Eastern League relievers...Has held left-handed batters to a .113 batting average against...Has struck out 68 batters and walked 12 in 66 2/3 innings...His longest outing of the season is 4 1/3 innings 7/20 at Akron...Is 1-0 with a 1.59 ERA in five appearances against Richmond...Has allowed two runs on five hits in 11 1/3 innings with seven strikeouts and five walks...Went 0-3 with a 8.22 ERA in five starts with Altoona in 2009...Placed on the Disabled List 5/5/09 and did not pitch the remainder of the season...Spent all of 2008 with Advanced-A Lynchburg and went 8-12 with a 3.56 ERA in 28 starts...Led the Carolina League with 151 2/3 innings pitched and finished sixth in ERA and WHIP...Made his pro debut in 2007 and went 7-2 with a 2.79 ERA in 13 starts combined between Short Season-A State College and Low-A Hickory...Originally selected by the Pirates in the ninth round of the 2007 First-Year Player Draft...Attended the University of Nebraska.

SALES PITCH: The Flying Squirrels have a combined staff ERA of 1.76 (25 ER/127 2/3 IP) in each of their last 14 victories...In the club's last four losses, the staff's ERA is 8.50 (34 ER/36 IP) and the starters did not make it out of the fifth inning...Richmond has won each of its last eight games when a starter goes six innings or more...Overall on the season, the Flying Squirrels are 32-16 when a starter goes six innings or more.

SWING AND A MISS: The Flying Squirrels struck out 13 times in last night's 4-1 win over the Curve...It was the most time the club has fanned in a game since striking out 13 times in a 7-3 win over the Akron Aeros on 6/28...The club's season-high for strikeouts in a game is 16 which came 5/8 at Harrisburg...The Flying Squirrels have struck out 768 times this season, third-most in the Eastern League...Richmond is averaging 7.31 strikeouts per game.

THOMAS THE TRAIN: Outfielder Thomas Neal hit his 10th home run of the season off of left-hander Rudy Owens in last night's 4-1 win over Altoona...It was just his second home run hit at The Diamond...The 22-year-old is hitting .343 (35-for-102) against left-handed pitchers while batting .269 (78-for-290) against right-handed pitchers...Neal is hitting .319 (61-for-191) with 15 doubles, seven home runs, and 30 RBI in 52 games since 6/1...He began the season by hitting .259 (52-for-201) with 11 doubles, a triple, three home runs and 24 RBI in 51 games through 5/31...The California-native is tied for fourth in the Eastern League with 113 hits.

THE WEATHER MAN: Third baseman Conor Gillaspie has a five-game hitting streak over which he is 10-for-19 (.526) with two doubles, a RBI, and three runs scored...The 23-year-old also has hits in 12 of his last 14 games including a season-long seven-game hit streak (7/11-7/22)...In 24 games this month, he is hitting .390 (30-for-77); however, only five of his 30 hits in July have gone for extra bases (three doubles and two triples)...He has walked 10 times and has struck out nine times so far this month.

UNBUCKLING THE BELT: In 100 games combined between Advanced-A San Jose and Double-A Richmond, first baseman Brandon Belt leads all of minor league baseball in on-base percentage (.472), is second in batting average (.373) and slugging percentage (.641), and is fifth in hits (134)...The 22-year-old's on-base streak ended at 21 games last night as he went 0-for-4 with three strikeouts...He made his first career appearance in the outfield last night after appearing in 93 games at first base and being the designated hitter in seven contests.

DOUBLETREE DOWNTOWN DOUBLE PLAYS: The Richmond Flying Squirrels have turned 130 double plays in 105 games including six on 5/7 in Harrisburg...The Flying Squirrels have not gone more than three games without a double play this season...The club leads the Eastern League in double plays turned.

CFS STAT OF THE NIGHT: Right-hander Felix Romero improved to 3-1 and lowered his ERA to 2.71 as a starter after giving up just one run in seven innings in last night's 4-1 win over the Curve...The 30-year-old has gone six-plus innings in seven of his nine starts this season after having not pitched more than four innings in his previous eight professional seasons.

Check out the Richmond Flying Squirrels Statistics

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Eastern League Stories from July 30, 2010


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