EL1 Richmond Flying Squirrels

Richmond Flying Squirrels Game Notes

May 27, 2011 - Eastern League (EL1)
Richmond Flying Squirrels News Release


RICHMOND FLYING SQUIRRELS (23-23) VS. AKRON AEROS (22-26)

LHP CLAYTON TANNER (1-4, 3.60) VS. LHP MATT PACKER (1-3, 4.30)

May 27, 2011 -- 7:05 PM

Canal Park

Game #47/Road #20

Radio Broadcast -- Sports Radio 910 WRNL

Internet Webcast -- www.sportsradio910.com

TONIGHT: The Richmond Flying Squirrels and Akron Aeros will meet in the opener of a four-game series...Third baseman Jose Flores lauched a three-run homer in the bottom of the seventh inning to break a 1-1 tie and help lift the Flying Squirrels to a 6-1 win over the Erie SeaWolves on Thursday night in front of 6,084 fans at The Diamond.

TONIGHT'S STARTERS: Left-hander Clayton Tanner gets the start in the series opener for the Flying Squirrels...Enters the season rated as the #30 prospect in the Giants farm system according to Baseball America...Earned the win in his last outing 5/22 at Reading...Allowed two runs on three hits in seven innings...Struck out four batters and walked none...Was perfect through 6 2/3 innings, retiring the first 20 batters he faced...Allowed three hits including a Cody Overbeck two-run homer in the bottom of the seventh inning...Retired the leadoff batter in all seven innings on the mound...Recorded 10 groundouts and six flyouts/popouts...Threw 83 pitches, 58 strikes...Threw first-pitch strikes to 15 of the 24 batters he faced...Threw 11 pitches or less in five of his seven innings on the mound...Threw 24 pitches in the bottom of the seventh...Win has his first of the season and the first for the team with him on the mound (1-7)...Outing was his fourth straight quality start and his fifth in eight total starts...Has averaged 2.50 runs of support (20R/8GS)...Club has scored one run or less in four of his eight starts...Spent the entire 2010 season with Richmond and went 9-9 with a 3.68 ERA in 27 starts...Struck out 79 batters and walked 64 in 149 innings...Named an Eastern League Mid-Season All-Star, but did not pitch in the game...Finished the season ninth in the EL in ERA...Member of the San Francisco Giants 40-man roster...Selected in the 3rd round of the 2006 First-Year Player Draft.

Left-hander Matt Packer gets the nod in the series opener for the Aeros...Making his ninth start of the season...Enters the season rated as the #23 prospect in the Cleveland Indians farm system according to Baseball America...Received a no-decision in his last outing 5/22 at Altoona...Allowed two runs on six hits in six innings...Struck out five batters and walked one...Earned his first win of the season 5/15 at Bowie, allowing one run on five hits in seven innings...Struck out a season-high eight batters and walked one...Overall, has struck out 31 batters and has walked eight in 46 innings...Has allowed three runs on 11 hits in 13 innings over his last two starts while striking out 13 batters and walking two...Lost five straight starts 4/17-5/10...Allowed 23 runs, 15 earned, in 27 1/3 innings (4.94 ERA) over that stretch...Has gone six innings or more in each of his last five starts...Allowed four runs or more in five of his first six starts...Began the 2010 season with Low-A Lake County and went 8-5 with a 1.60 ERA in 24 games, 13 starts...Struck out 92 batters and walked 13 in 95 2/3 innings...Limited opponents to a .218 batting average against...Went 6-4 with a 1.31 ERA in his 13 starts...Promoted to Akron 8/3/10...Went 1-2 with a 3.16 ERA in six games, five starts, striking out 31 batters and walking nine in 37 innings...Made pro debut with Short-Season A Mahoning Valley in 2009 and went 0-0 with a 2.38 ERA in five games...Struck out 13 batters and walked one in 11 1/3 innings...Selected by the Cleveland Indians in the 32nd round of the 2009 First-Year Player Draft...Attended the University of Virginia...Majored in History.

GOING STREAKING: The Flying Squirrels have matched their longest winning streak of the season with last night's win over Erie...The only other time the club won three straight games this season was 5/5-5/7...Richmond's longest winning streak last season was seven games (4/27/10-5/3/10)...The team is back at the .500 mark for the first time since being 10-10 on 4/28, and it has a chance to post a winning record for the first time since being 5-4 on 4/15.

TALE OF THE TAPE: The Flying Squirrels have hit five home runs over the past two games including three home runs in Wednesday night's contest, matching a franchise record in the two-year history of the club...The club hit both of its homers in the bottom of the seventh inning on Thursday night, the second time this season the team has hit multiple home runs in an inning...Joe Koshansky and Mike McBryde hit back-to-back home runs in the bottom of the eighth inning 5/6 against Altoona...Richmond is still last in the Eastern League with 22 home runs hit on the season...Fourteen of the team's 22 homers have come at The Diamond.

HOME RUN JOSE: Third baseman Jose Flores went 2-for-3 in last night's contest against Erie including a three-run homer...It was the first home run for the 23-year-old since 4/18 at Trenton...Entering last night, Flores was 3-for-38 (.079) over his previous 13 games with two RBI, three runs scored, eight strikeouts and three walks...The home run was his first extra base hit since getting a triple 5/3 at New Britain.

HERE'S JOHNNY!: Catcher Johnny Monell has hits in five straight games, his longest hitting streak of the season...The 25-year-old is batting .353 (6-for-17) over his last five games with a double, two home runs, four RBIs, and three runs scored...He homered twice on Wednesday night, marking the fifth time a Flying Squirrel had a multi-homer game...It was the third multi-homer game in his five-year career...Monell leads the team in RBIs (21) and home runs (6) and is tied for the team lead in extra base hits (13).

JUSTIN TIME: Outfielder Justin Christian has hits in five straight contests, matching his longest hitting streak of the season...The 31-year-old is batting .333 (7-for-21) with a double, two home runs, two RBIs, and four runs scored...He has struck out just once over that span...In 23 games this month, Christian is batting .304 (28-for-92) with six doubles, two homers, and 10 RBIs...He leads the team in runs scored (26) and stolen bases (10) and is second in hits (49) and RBIs (19).

MAY IS FOR MATOS: Right-hander Osiris Matos allowed one hit over two scoreless innings Tuesday night...In eight appearances this month, the 26-year-old has tossed 15 scoreless innings, limiting opponents to a .140 (7-for-50) batting average against...He has struck out seven batters while walking two over that span and has lowered his ERA from 5.02 to 2.63.

PITCHING IN: The Flying Squirrels pitching staff leads the Eastern League with a 2.76 ERA through 46 games, one of only two staffs with a sub-three ERA (Trenton 2.89)...The club ranks second in the league with 378 strikeouts, and the pitching staff has logged a league-high 429 2/3 innings of work.

ON THE ROAD AGAIN AND AGAIN AND AGAIN: Beginning tonight, the Flying Squirrels start a stretch where they will play 13 of 16 games on the road...The club is 6-13 on the road, and it is batting .198 (127-for-642) and averaging 3.05 runs per game (58R/19G) in 19 road contests...Richmond just completed a stretch of playing 10 out of 13 games at home...The Flying Squirrels are 17-10 at home and are batting .253 (237-for-938) in 27 games at The Diamond while averaging 4.30 runs per game at home (116R/27G).

Check out the Richmond Flying Squirrels Statistics



Eastern League Stories from May 27, 2011


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