EL1 Richmond Flying Squirrels

Richmond Flying Squirrels Game Notes

Published on April 28, 2011 under Eastern League (EL1)
Richmond Flying Squirrels News Release


RICHMOND FLYING SQUIRRELS (9-10) VS. TRENTON THUNDER (8-11)

RHP JUSTIN FITZGERALD (2-0, 1.88) VS. LHP STEVE GARRISON (0-2, 6.19)

April 28, 2011 -- 10:35 AM

The Diamond

Game #20/Home #14

Radio Broadcast -- Sports Radio 910 WRNL

Internet Webcast -- www.sportsradio910.com

TODAY: The Richmond Flying Squirrels and Trenton Thunder will meet in the finale of a four-game series...The Flying Squirrels broke through a scoreless tie in the bottom of the 11th inning on Wednesday night as Justin Christian singled home Roger Kieschnick and Richmond walked off with a 1-0 win over the Thunder in game three of the series in front 4,121 fans at The Diamond.

TODAY'S STARTERS: Right-hander Justin Fitzgerald gets the start in the series finale for the Flying Squirrels...Received a no-decision in his last start 4/21 against Altoona...Allowed three runs, two earned, on eight hits in 4 1/3 innings...Struck out three batters and walked four...Walked three batters and allowed two runs in the first inning...Retired the leadoff batter in three of his five innings on the mound...Leadoff man scored both times he reached...Recorded four ground outs and three fly outs...Threw 88 pitches, 54 strikes...Threw 50 pitches in the first two innings combined (27 in the 1st, 23 in the 2nd)...Threw a combined 38 pitches in his final 2 1/3 innings...Threw first-pitch strikes to 16 of the 22 batters he faced...Club has scored 18 runs in his three starts....Spent the entire 2010 season with Advanced-A San Jose...First season as a starter after appearing exclusively in relief in his first two pro campaigns...Went 10-6 with a 3.45 ERA in 26 games, 25 starts...Struck out 116 batters and walked 46 in 146 innings...Ranked 4th in the California League in ERA (3.45), 3rd in opponent batting average (.258) and tied for 5th with 10 wins....Named a California League Mid-Season All-Star...Made three postseason starts with San Jose, going 2-0 with a 1.93 ERA (4R/18.2 IP)...Made 39 relief appearances with Low-A Augusta in 2009...Went 2-2 with a 3.70 ERA, striking out 63 and walking 27 in 56 innings...Made pro debut in 2008, going a combined 1-0 with a 3.86 ERA in 17 appearances...Selected in the 11th round of the 2008 First-Year Player Draft...Attended the University of California-Davis.

Left-hander Steve Garrison gets the nod in the series finale for the Thunder...Suffered the loss in his last outing 4/23 at Harrisburg...Allowed five runs on five hits in 3 2/3 innings, striking two and walking two...Received a no-decision against Richmond 4/18...Allowed one run on two hits in five innings, striking out five batters and walking one...Only run allowed came on a Jose Flores home run...Appeared in eight ML Spring Training games with the New York Yankees in 2011...Went 0-1 with a 5.23 ERA, striking out five and walking two in 10 1/3 innings...Claimed off of waivers by the Yankees from the San Diego Padres 9/9/10...Appeared in 17 games, including 11 starts, across three different levels in 2009...Made three starts with the AZL Padres before being promoted to Advanced-A Lake Elsinore where he went 1-1 with a 3.14 ERA in nine games, three starts...Made five starts with Triple-A Portland and went 1-1 with a 8.87 ERA while opponents hit .354 against him...Missed the start of the season recovering from knee surgery after sustaining an injury during the 2009 Arizona Fall League season...Added to the Padres 40-man roster 11/20/09...Limited to 13 appearances, 12 starts, across three levels (AZL Padres, Lake Elsinore and Double-A San Antonio) in 2009...Went a combined 1-2 with a 5.56 ERA...Made the majority of his appearances (9) with the AZL Padres...Entered the 2009 season rated as the #22 prospect in the Padres farm system according to Baseball America...Had shoulder surgery following the 2008 season...Spent the entire 2008 season with San Antonio and went 7-7 with a 3.82 ERA in 24 starts...Struck out 108 batters and walked 37 in 129 2/3 innings...Entered the 2008 season rated as the #6 prospect in the Padres farm system according to Baseball America...Acquired by the Padres along with pitchers Joe Thatcher and Wil Inman from the Milwaukee Brewers in exchange for reliever Scott Linebrink 7/25/07...Began the 2007 season with Advanced-A Brevard County and went 8-4 with a 3.44 ERA in 20 starts...Went 2-3 with a 2.79 ERA in seven starts with Lake Elsinore following the trade...Originally selected by the Brewers in the 10th round of the 2005 First-Year Player Draft.

HAVE A NICE DAY': The Flying Squirrels are seeking their first win in a day game this season...The club is 0-3 during the day...Richmond is 1-4 in series finales.

SHUTOUT SQUIRRELS: The Flying Squirrels tossed their first shutout of the season as Eric Surkamp, Dan Otero, and Jason Stoffel combined to blank Trenton over 11 innings...It was the first shutout of the season for Richmond pitching...The Flying Squirrels were the last Eastern League team to toss a shutout...Since allowing three runs in the top of the fifth inning on Tuesday, Richmond pitchers have tossed 15 consecutive scoreless innings...The club's 3.00 staff ERA is the lowest in the league.

EXTRA SPECIAL: The Flying Squirrels improved to 2-2 in extra innings with last night's 1-0, 11-inning win...The club has gone into extra innings in four of its last eight games...Richmond is tied with Trenton for the most extra-inning games played this season...Three of the Flying Squirrels last five games have been three-plus hours...Only one of the team's first 14 games lasted more than three hours.

LEADER OF THE PACK: Left-hander Eric Surkamp matched a season-high and a franchise record with 10 strikeouts in seven innings on Wednesday night...The 23-year-old struck out 10 batters in his Double-A debut 4/8 against New Britain...He has struck out 31 batters in 20 1/3 innings, the most in the Eastern League...His 13.72 strikeout per innings-pitch ratio is also tops in the league...Surkamp's outing was also the longest of the season for a Richmond pitcher...Flying Squirrels pitchers struck out a season-high 18 batters last night...The club's previous season-high for most strikeouts in a game was 16, 4/8 against New Britain.

WHAT A RELIEF: The Flying Squirrels' bullpen has not allowed a run in 12 1/3 innings spanning the last three games, allowing only five hits over that stretch...Right-hander Dan Otero tossed a career-long three innings last night, setting a new career-high with six strikeouts...Left-hander David Quinowski worked a career-long 4 1/3 innings on Monday night.

NOOONAN: Shortstop Nick Noonan has hits in each of his first six games with the Flying Squirrels since joining the club from Extended Spring Training on 4/21...The 21-year-old is 7-for-26 (.269) with one RBI and three runs scored while striking out five times and walking three...It is the longest hit streak of the season for a Flying Squirrels' batter and just the second hit streak of at least five games...Outfielder Roger Kieschnick had hits in five straight games 4/7-4/11.

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Eastern League Stories from April 28, 2011


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