EL1 Richmond Flying Squirrels

Richmond Flying Squirrels Game Notes

Published on August 5, 2010 under Eastern League (EL1)
Richmond Flying Squirrels News Release


RICHMOND FLYING SQUIRRELS (53-57) VS. NEW HAMPSHIRE FISHER CATS (66-45)

RHP MIKE MACDONALD (3-7, 4.69) VS. RHP RANDY BOONE (2-7, 3.95)

August 5, 2010 -- 7:05 PM

MerchantsAuto.com Stadium

Game #111/Road #53

Radio Broadcast -- Sports Radio 910 WRNL

Internet Webcast -- www.sportsradio910.com

TONIGHT: The Richmond Flying Squirrels and the New Hampshire Fisher Cats will meet in the finale of a three-game series...The Fisher Cats pounded out nine runs on 16 hits in a 9-0 route of the Flying Squirrels in game two of the series on Wednesday afternoon at MerchantsAuto.com Stadium.

TONIGHT'S STARTERS: Right-hander Mike MacDonald gets the start in game three of the series for the Flying Squirrels...Earned the win in his last outing against Altoona 7/30...Allowed four runs, three earned, on eight hits in 5 1/3 innings...Struck out one batter and walked none...Allowed three runs and four hits in the sixth inning...Recorded 11 ground outs and three fly outs...Threw 70 pitches, 47 strikes...Threw first-pitch strikes to 19 of the 24 batters that he faced...Won for the first time since 6/22 at Akron (six appearances, one start)...Club improved to 4-13 in his 17 starts...Matched a season-high with six runs of support (6/22 at Akron)...Averaging 2.12 runs of support during his 17 starts...Went 1-for-2 at the plate with a double and a run scored...Hit was the first of his career...Has issued the most hits (121) of any Eastern League pitcher with fewer than 100 innings pitched (96)...Left-handed batters are hitting .374 (58-for-155) against him...Went 16-13 with a 3.97 ERA in 42 games, 34 starts, over parts of three seasons with New Hampshire (2006-2008).

Right-hander Randy Boone gets the nod in game three of the series for the Fisher Cats...Suffered the loss in his last outing at Trenton 7/29...Allowed three runs on nine hits in 7 2/3 innings...Struck out three batters and walked two...Lost for the third consecutive start...Has not won since 5/22 at Bowie...Is 0-5 with a 5.85 ERA (23 er/35 1/3 ip) over his last eight outings and opponents are hitting .318 (47 h/148 ab) against him over that span...Placed on the Disabled List 6/2 with an ankle injury...Activated 7/2....Finished July 0-5 with a 5.10 ERA in six starts...Spent the majority of the 2009 season with New Hampshire...Went 9-8 with a 3.70 ERA in 25 games, 23 starts...Struck out 90 batters and walked 42 in 129 innings...Made two starts with Triple-A Las Vegas and went 0-2 with a 15.75 ERA (14 er/8 ip)....Went 5-4 with a 4.68 ERA in 12 games, 11 starts, with Advanced-A Dunedin in 2008...Made pro debut with Low-A Lansing in 2008 and went 6-2 with a 2.50 ERA in 15 games, including 10 starts...Named a Midwest League Mid-Season All-Star...Originally selected by the Toronto Blue Jays in the seventh round of the 2007 First-Year Player Draft...Attended the University of Texas.

ALL IN: Richmond is attempting to win back-to-back series for the first time since 5/7-5/12 when the club won consecutive three-game sets at Harrisburg and Bowie...The club recently took three of four from Altoona...Since the All-Star break, the Flying Squirrels are 11-9 and have gone 2-1-2 in the five series that they have played...The club is 2-6 in rubber matches this season.

TOUGH NUT TO CRACK: The Flying Squirrels were shutout of the ninth time this season in yesterday's 9-0 loss to the Fisher Cats...The nine shutouts are tied with Harrisburg and Bowie for most in the Eastern League...Richmond has been shutout five times in its last 29 games...The club's 399 runs scored are the fewest in the league.

MOUND MATTERS: The Flying Squirrels have allowed three earned runs or less and have a combined staff ERA of 1.77 (31 er/158 ip) in each of their last 17 victories...The Flying Squirrels are 9-47 when allowing four runs or more and 0-29 when giving up six runs or more.

PEN OUT OF INK: The Flying Squirrels bullpen allowed six runs in 6 1/3 innings (8.53 ERA) of relief yesterday...Richmond relievers had allowed just one run over their previous 16 innings (0.56 ERA)...Left-hander Andy Sisco gave up five runs, which matched a season-high for a reliever, and seven hits, which is a new season-high for a reliever.

ERROR REPORT: The Flying Squirrels have committed 10 errors over their last five games including errors in each of the last five games...It matches the longest streak of games with an error and is the third time this season that the club has committed an error in five straight games...The club is tied for third in the Eastern League in both fielding percentage (.981) and fewest errors (81).

SPEED TRAP: Catcher Aaron Lowenstein threw out Eric Thames trying to steal second in the first inning yesterday and ended a string of 11 consecutive successful stolen base attempts against the Flying Squirrels...It was the first time an opposing base runner was thrown out since Tyler LaTorre threw out Bowie's Carlos Rojas 7/25 (eight games)...Lowenstein threw out 2-of-3 would-be base stealers yesterday and has nabbed four out of nine (44.4%) attempted base stealers since coming up from Advanced-A San Jose...The Flying Squirrels rank last in the Eastern League in throwing out base runners (24.6%).

UNBUCKLING THE BELT: In 105 games combined between Advanced-A San Jose and Double-A Richmond, first baseman Brandon Belt leads all of minor league baseball in batting average (.369) and on-base percentage (.469), is third in slugging percentage (.631), and is sixth in hits (139)...The 22-year-old is batting .429 (12-for-28) with runners in scoring position in 28 games with the Flying Squirrels and is hitting .391 (45-for-115) overall with runners in scoring position this season.

DOUBLETREE DOWNTOWN DOUBLE PLAYS: The Richmond Flying Squirrels have turned 136 double plays in 110 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: Flying Squirrels pitching struck out just one batter in yesterday's 9-0 loss to the Fisher Cats as Tyler LaTorre struck out the final batter he faced, Matt Liuzza, looking to end the eighth inning...It was the third time this season that the club struck out just one batter (7/5 and 7/8 at Harrisburg)...Richmond has struck out at least one batter in every game this season.

Check out the Richmond Flying Squirrels Statistics

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Eastern League Stories from August 5, 2010


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