EL1 Richmond Flying Squirrels

Richmond Flying Squirrels Game Notes

Published on May 20, 2011 under Eastern League (EL1)
Richmond Flying Squirrels News Release


RICHMOND FLYING SQUIRRELS (18-21) VS. READING PHILLIES (23-16)

RHP JUSTIN FITZGERALD (2-3, 4.08) VS. RHP B.J. ROSENBERG (0-0, 1.83)

May 20, 2011 -- 7:05 PM

FirstEnergy Stadium

Game #40/Road #17

Radio Broadcast -- Sports Radio 910 WRNL

Internet Webcast -- www.sportsradio910.com

TONIGHT: The Richmond Flying Squirrels and Reading Phillies will meet in the opener of a three-game series...The Bowie Baysox outlasted the Flying Squirrels, getting a RBI double from Ronnie Welty in claim 3-2 win in the 16-inning finale of a three-game series on Thursday night in front of 5,236 fans at The Diamond.

TONIGHT'S STARTERS: Right-hander Justin Fitzgerald gets the start in the series opener for the Flying Squirrels...Suffered the loss in his last outing 5/13 against Harrisburg...Allowed three runs on six hits in six innings...Struck out five batters and walked three...Outing was his longest of the season and set a season-high with the five strikeouts...Gave up two runs with two outs in the top of the sixth inning...Retired the leadoff batter in all six innings on the mound...Recorded six groundouts and five flyouts...Threw 85 pitches, 53 strikes...Threw 16 pitches or less in five of his six innings on the mound...Threw 25 pitches in the top of the sixth inning...Threw first-pitch strikes to 20 of the 27 batters he faced...Has lost each of his last three starts allowing 13 runs on 24 hits over his last 16 2/3 innings (7.02 ERA)...Has struck out eight batters and walked four over that span and opponents are batting .358 (24-for-67) against him...Went 2-0 over his first four outings allowing four runs, three earned, on 19 hits over 18 2/3 innings (1.45 ERA)...Struck out 10 batters and walked 12 while allowing a .279 (19-for-68) average against...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.

Right-hander B.J. Rosenberg gets the nod in the series opener for the Phillies...Making the first start of his professional career and his first start overall since starting five games in 2008 in college...Went a career-long four innings in his last outing 5/13 against New Hampshire...Allowed one run on two hits while striking out three batters and walking none...Has struck out 24 batters and has walked four in 19 2/3 innings of work this season...Was limited to 22 total appearances in 2010 due to a lat strain...Went 1-0 with a 9.22 ERA in 11 games with Reading, allowing 15 hits including six home runs in 13 2/3 innings...Appeared in eight games with Advanced-A Clearwater and went 1-0 with a 1.38 ERA, striking out 17 batters and walking four in 13 innings of work...Entered the 2010 season rated as the #24 prospect in the Philadelphia Phillies farm system according to Baseball America...Made a career-high 47 appearances and went 7-3 with a 1.18 ERA in time split between Low-A Lakewood and Reading in 2009...Went 7-2 with a 0.89 ERA in 37 games with Lakewood, striking out 65 batters and walking 10 in 50 1/3 innings...Went 19-for-21 in save opportunities and limited opponents to a .200 batting average against...Named a South Atlantic League Mid-Season All-Star...Went 0-1 with a 2.53 ERA in 10 appearances with the R-Phils...Converted three of five save opportunities...Tossed 33 consecutive scoreless innings spanning 24 outings from 6/8/09-8/19/09...Placed on the Temporary Inactive List 9/1/09 to participate in the World Cup...Made his pro debut with Short Season-A Williamsport in 2008...Went 3-1 with a 1.00 ERA in 21 games, striking out 52 batters and walking 15 in 36 innings...Limited opponents to a .205 average against and went 10-for-10 in save opportunities...Named a New York-Penn League Mid-Season All-Star...Selected by the Philadelphia Phillies in the 13th round of the 2008 First-Year Player Draft...Attended the University of Louisville...Went 18-19 with a 5.43 ERA in 73 games, 47 starts, in four seasons at Louisville...Member of the 2007 College World Series team; however, was injured (shoulder) and did not pitch.

TREADING WATER: The Flying Squirrels will try to avoid matching their low-water mark on the season at four games under .500...The club was last four games under .500 at 11-15 after dropping the opener of a doubleheader 5/5 at New Britain...Richmond has fallen to three games under .500 twice since 5/5 and has won on both occasions.

EXTRA TOUGH: The Flying Squirrels played their Eastern League-leading eighth extra-inning game last night, falling to Bowie 3-2 in 16 frames... At four hours and 48 minutes, it was the longest home game in both time and innings in the two-year history of the franchise and was also the second-longest game overall on the season...Richmond and Bowie played 18 innings in five hours and 27 minutes on 4/30 at Prince George's Stadium, a game in which the Baysox also won 3-2...Last night's game was the fourth four-plus hour contest in 39 total games for the Flying Squirrels this season...Richmond played just two four-plus hour games in 141 total in 2010...The club has amassed 32 innings worth of extra frames thus far on the season and is averaging 9.42 innings played per game (367 2/3 innings/39 games)...Bowie is averaging 8.88 innings per game, second-most in the league...With the loss, the Flying Squirrels fell to 4-4 in extra innings on the season.

RAY OF SUNSHINE: Right-hander Ronnie Ray tossed four scoreless innings last night, his longest outing of the season...The 27-year-old allowed one hit while striking out three batters and walking none...He has worked 15 1/3 consecutive scoreless innings spanning his last seven appearances, striking out 20 batters and walking three...Opponents are hitting .102 (5-for-49) against him over his last seven outings...Ray has lowered his ERA from 1.93 to 0.99 and opponent batting average against from .304 to .200...Since the All-Star break last season (7/15/10), Ray is 4-1 and has allowed 12 runs, seven earned, (1.17 ERA) in 54 innings spanning his last 35 outings...He has struck out 61 batters over that stretch and has walked 12 while holding opponents to a .184 batting average against (35-for-190).

MAY IS FOR MATOS: Right-hander Osiris Matos tossed three perfect innings in Wednesday night's contests, throwing first-pitch strikes to all nine batters that he faced, and recording his second hold of the season...In six appearances this month, the 26-year-old has tossed 12 2/3 scoreless innings, limiting opponents to a .143 (6-for-42) batting average against...He has struck out seven batters while walking two over that span and has lowered his ERA from 5.02 to 2.67.

PITCHING IN: The Flying Squirrels pitching staff leads the Eastern League with a 2.86 ERA through 39 games, the only staff with a sub-three ERA..The club ranks second in the league with 331 strikeouts, and the pitching staff has logged a league-high 367 2/3 innings of work.

HOME AND AWAY: The Flying Squirrels are in the middle of a stretch where they will play 10 of 13 games at home...Richmond is 14-9 at home and is batting .253 (205-for-811) in 23 games at The Diamond while averaging 4.17 runs per game at home (96R/23G)...Beginning May 27th, the club will start a stretch where it will play 13 of 16 games on the road...The Flying Squirrels are 4-12 on the road, and they are batting .196 (107-for-545) and averaging 3.00 runs per game (48R/16G) in 16 road contests.

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Eastern League Stories from May 20, 2011


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