Richmond Flying Squirrels Game Notes
May 28, 2011 - Eastern League (EL1)
Richmond Flying Squirrels News Release
RICHMOND FLYING SQUIRRELS (23-24) VS. AKRON AEROS (23-26)
LHP RYAN VERDUGO (2-1, 3.07) VS. LHP KELVIN DE LA CRUZ (3-3, 3.54)
May 28, 2011 -- 7:05 PM
Canal Park
Game #48/Road #21
Radio Broadcast -- Sports Radio 910 WRNL
Internet Webcast -- www.sportsradio910.com
TONIGHT: The Richmond Flying Squirrels and Akron Aeros will meet in game two of a four-game series...The Aeros rallied for six runs in the bottom of the fourth inning to turn a close game into a route as Akron cruised to a 9-2 win over the Flying Squirrels on Saturday night in front of 4,505 fans at Canal Park.
TONIGHT'S STARTERS: Left-hander Ryan Verdugo gets the nod in game two of the series for the Flying Squirrels...Enters the 2011 season rated as the #25 prospect in the San Francisco Giants farm system according to Baseball America...Suffered the loss in his last outing 5/23 against Erie...Allowed four runs, two earned, on five hits in 6 1/3 innings...Struck out 10 batters and walked two...Outing was the longest of his career...Ten strikeouts were a career high and matched a franchise record...Three of the four runs allowed came with two outs in an inning...Retired the leadoff batter in six of his seven innings on the mound...Recorded six flyouts/popouts and three groundouts...Threw 97 pitches, 62 strikes...Threw 13 pitches or less in five of his seven innings on the mound...Threw 21 pitches in the fourth inning...Threw first-pitch strikes to 16 of the 27 batters he faced...Loss was just the second in 84 career pro outings and the first since 4/29/10 at Hagerstown while with Low-A Augusta...Went a combined 8-1 with a 1.87 ERA in 44 games, including one start, with Low-A Augusta and San Jose...Suffered the first loss in his pro career 4/29/10 at Hagerstown...Pitched with Scottsdale in the Arizona Fall League in 2010...Went 4-1 with a 2.45 ERA in seven starts while striking out 26 batters and walking 16...Began the 2009 season in Extended Spring Training...Went 4-0 with a 1.27 ERA in 23 games with the AZL Giants and Low-A Augusta...Selected in the 9th round of the 2008 First-Year Player Draft...Attended LSU and Skagit Valley (WA) College.
Left-hander Kelvin De La Cruz gets the nod in game two of the series for the Aeros...Making his ninth start of the season...Enters the season rated as the #24 prospect in the Cleveland Indians farm system according to Baseball America...Earned the win in his last outing 5/23 against Harrisburg...Allowed three runs on six hits in five innings...Struck out six batters and walked two...Has not lost since 4/23 against Reading (5G/4GS)...Has struck out 56 batters and has walked 28 in 40 2/3 innings...Is third in the Eastern League in strikeouts (56) and is second in walks (28)...Opponents are hitting .211 (30-for-142)...Began the 2010 season with Advanced-A Kinston going 2-2 with a 2.91 ERA in six starts...Struck out 28 batters and walked eight in 34 innings and limited opposing batters to a .183 batting average against...Promoted to Akron 5/8/10...Made 20 starts with the Aeros and went 5-6 with a 5.77 ERA...Struck out 77 batters and walked 64 in 93 2/3 innings...Entered the 2010 season rated as the #13 prospect in the Cleveland Indians farm system according to Baseball America...Limited to just five starts in 2009 due to an elbow strain...Went 2-2 with a 4.58 ERA with Rookie AZL Indians and Kinston...Struck out 24 batters and walked seven in 19 2/3 innings and limited opponents to a .222 batting average against...Entered the 2009 season rated as the #7 prospect in the Cleveland Indians farm system according to Baseball America...Went a combined 12-6 with a 2.98 ERA in 27 starts across three levels (Low-A, Advanced-A and Double-A) in 2008...Struck out 136 batters and walked 62 in 130 innings while limiting opponents to a .229 batting average against...Spent the majority of the season with Low-A Lake County and went 8-4 with a 1.69 ERA in 18 starts...Struck out 96 batters and walked 34 in 95 2/3 innings...Named a South Atlantic League Mid-Season All-Star...Signed by the Cleveland Indians as a non-drafted free agent 12/8/04.
ONE-SIDED: The Flying Squirrels suffered their worst defeat of the 2011 season, falling last night to the Aeros 9-2...It was the second-most runs allowed by the club this season (11 runs, 4/22 against Altoona)...The six runs allowed in the bottom of the fourth inning matched the runs most surrendered by the club in an inning, and the six hits allowed in the fourth inning were a season high...The 11 batters faced by Richmond pitching in the fourth was also a season high...The eight runs charged to starter Clayton Tanner were the most given up by a Flying Squirrels pitcher this season and were a career high given up by the left-hander.
HERE'S JOHNNY!: Catcher Johnny Monell has hits in six straight games, his longest hitting streak of the season...The 25-year-old is batting .353 (8-for-21) over his last six 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 six straight contests, his longest hitting streak of the season...The 31-year-old is batting .320 (8-for-25) with a double, a triple, two home runs, two RBIs, and five runs scored...He has struck out just once over that span...In 23 games this month, Christian is batting .302 (29-for-96) with six doubles, a triple, two homers, and 10 RBIs...He leads the team in runs scored (27) and stolen bases (10) and is second in hits (50) 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 ranks second in the Eastern League lead with a 2.90 ERA through 47 games, one of only two staffs with a sub-three ERA (Trenton 2.88)...The club ranks second in the league with 384 strikeouts, and the pitching staff has logged a league-high 437 2/3 innings of work.
ON THE ROAD AGAIN AND AGAIN AND AGAIN: The Flying Squirrels are in a stretch where they will play 13 of 16 games on the road...The club is 6-14 on the road, and it is batting .197 (133-for-674) and averaging 3.00 runs per game (60R/20G) in 20 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).
Eastern League Stories from May 28, 2011
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- Altoona Takes Two from B-Mets on Saturday - Altoona Curve
- Crosby Tosses Gem But 'Wolves Fall to Phils - Erie SeaWolves
- Fedroff's Streak Snapped As Aeros Fall In Extras - Akron RubberDucks
- Carreno Strikes Out 11 In Fisher Cats' 4-0 Win - New Hampshire Fisher Cats
- Noonan Helps Squirrels Nip Aeros In 10 Innings, 3-2 - Richmond Flying Squirrels
- Senators win fifth straight with 8-3 win over Bowie - Harrisburg Senators
- Harrisburg Hits Around Baysox - Chesapeake Baysox
- Sea Dogs Split Twinbill with Thunder - Portland Sea Dogs
- Winning Streak Halted in Twin Bill Split - Trenton Thunder
- Erie SeaWolves Vs. Reading Phillies...Game Two of Four...Game Notes - Erie SeaWolves
- Richmond Flying Squirrels Game Notes - Richmond Flying Squirrels
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