EL1 Richmond Flying Squirrels

Richmond Flying Squirrels Game Notes

Published on May 7, 2011 under Eastern League (EL1)
Richmond Flying Squirrels News Release


TONIGHT: The Richmond Flying Squirrels and Altoona Curve will meet in game two of a three-game series...The Flying Squirrels got a solid start from right-hander David Mixon and rallied from a 2-1 deficit to knock off the Curve 5-3 in the series-opener on Friday night in front of 3,938 fans at The Diamond.

TONIGHT'S STARTERS: Left-hander Eric Surkamp gets the start in game two of the series for the Flying Squirrels...Enters the 2011 season rated as the #9 prospect in the San Francisco Giants farm system according to Baseball America...Earned his first Double-A win in his last outing 5/2 at New Britain...Allowed one run on two hits in six innings...Struck out 10 batters and walked two...Both hits allowed were singles, one an infield single...Ten strikeouts matched a season-high and Flying Squirrels franchise recorded...Third time in five starts he struck out 10 batters...Second consecutive quality start...Retired the leadoff batter in five of his six innings on the mound...Recorded four groundouts and four flyouts...Threw 93 pitches, 59 strikes...Threw first-pitch strikes to 17 of the 23 batters that he faced...Threw 15 pitches or less in four of his six innings on the mound...Received six runs of support...Club had scored just five runs in his four outings (none while he was in the game)...Leads the Eastern League and is tied for sixth in all of MiLB with 41 strikeouts...Made 17 starts with Advanced-A San Jose in 2010 going 4-2 with a 3.11 ERA...Struck out 180 batters and walked 22 in 101 1/3 innings...Had season cut short after injuring his hip attempting to field a ground ball 7/18/10 against Lancaster...Named a California League Mid-Season and Post Season All-Star...Spent all of 2009 with Low-A Augusta and went 11-5 with a 3.30 ERA in 23 starts...Struck out 169 batters and walked 39 in 131 innings, third-most strikeouts in all of MiLB...Selected in the 6th round of the 2008 First-Year Player Draft...Attended North Carolina State University

Left-hander Aaron Thompson gets the nod in game two of the series for the Curve...Making his sixth start of the season and his third against the Flying Squirrels...Is 1-1 against Richmond with a 2.38 ERA (3ER/11.1 IP) in two starts this season...Is 0-2 with a 5.51 ERA (19ER/16 1. IP) over his last three starts...Opponents are hitting .204 (20-for-98) against him...Named Eastern League Pitcher of the Week (4/7/11-4/17/11)...Claimed by the Pittsburgh Pirates off of waivers 12/24/10...Went 4-13 with a 5.80 ERA in 26 starts with Harrisburg in 2010...Tied for the Eastern League lead with 13 losses, while allowing the second-most runs (96) and the sixth-most hits (164)...Made Triple-A debut in one spot-start with Syracuse 4/24/10 and earned the win...Allowed one run on five hits in five innings...Struck out four batters and walked three...Entered the 2010 season rated as the #12 prospect in the Washington Nationals farm system according to Baseball America....Acquired by the Nationals from the Florida Marlins in exchange for first baseman Nick Johnson July 31, 2009...Went 0-3 with a 3.31 ERA in six starts with Harrisburg in 2009...Began the season with Double-A Jacksonville and went 5-9 with a 4.11 ERA in 20 starts...Limited to only 18 total outings in 2008 due to a should injury...Went 2-5 with a 5.62 ERA in 16 starts with Double-A Carolina...Went 8-8 with a 3.63 ERA in 24 starts with Low-A Greensboro in 2006...Struck out 114 batters and walked 35 in 134 innings...Named a South Atlantic League Mid-Season All-Star...Originally selected by the Florida Marlins in the 1st round (#22 overall) of the 2005 First-Year Player Draft.

GOING STREAKING?: The Flying Squirrels will be in search of their first three-game winning streak of the season tonight...The

club has won consecutive games four times...The Curve has also not had a winning streak longer than two games.

I GOT YOUR BACK: First baseman Joe Koshansky and outfielder Mike McBryde hit back-to-back home runs to leadoff the bottom of the eighth inning last night...It was the second time in the two-year history of the franchise that two players hit home runs in consecutive at-bats...Outfielders Thomas Neal and Roger Kieschnick hit back-to-back home runs in bottom of the first inning 6/28/10 against Akron...The home runs were the 11th and 12th of the season for the Flying Squirrels; however, the club still ranks last in the Eastern League...Richmond hit its 12th home run of the season last year on 5/3/10.

SHORT AND SWEET: Last night's series-opener between Richmond and Altoona played in 2 hours and 16 minutes matched the shortest nine-inning game for the Flying Squirrels this season...The club also played 2 hours and 16 minutes 4/14 at Altoona...Game one of Thursday's doubleheader at New Britain, a seven-inning affair, lasted just 1 hour and 40 minutes...The Flying Squirrels average game time through 28 games this season has been 2 hours and 53 minutes...The club has played an Eastern League-leading six extra-inning games including an 18-inning, 5-hour and 27-minute marathon 4/30 at Bowie.

NO PLACE LIKE HOME: The Flying Squirrels are batting .244 (123-for-504) in 15 games at The Diamond while averaging 4.27 runs per game at home (64R/15G)...Richmond is batting .197 (88-for-447) and are averaging 2.92 runs per game (38R/13G) in 13 contests...Seven of the club's 12 home runs have been hit at The Diamond.

PITCHING IN: The Flying Squirrels pitching staff leads the Eastern League with a 2.93 ERA through 28 games...The club leads the league in staff ERA even though it has issued the most walks (93) and has allowed the more hits (246) than of any team in the circuit...Richmond ranks third in the league with 226 strikeouts, and the pitching staff has logged a league-high 261 innings of work, 14 2/3 more innings than the Trenton Thunder who ranks second in innings pitched...The Flying Squirrels bullpen has posted a 2.75 ERA.

BOOK ‘EM DAN-O: Right-hander Dan Otero has tossed 10 2/3 consecutive scoreless innings over his last six appearances, the longest scoreless streak of the season for a Flying Squirrels pitcher...The 26-year-old has struck out 13 batters and walked none while holding opponents to a .225 (9-for-40) average against over the course of the streak.

NO MO-NELL: Catcher Johnny Monell is 0-for-15 at the plate with six strikeouts over his last five games and is just 3-for-32 (.094) at the plate with 15 strikeouts since hitting home runs in consecutive games 4/25-4/26 (nine games)...The 25-year-old's batting average has tumbled from .255 to .193 over his last nine contests.

Check out the Richmond Flying Squirrels Statistics

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Eastern League Stories from May 7, 2011


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