EL1 Richmond Flying Squirrels

Richmond Flying Squirrels Game Notes

June 7, 2011 - Eastern League (EL1)
Richmond Flying Squirrels News Release


RICHMOND FLYING SQUIRRELS (27-29) VS. PORTLAND SEA DOGS (19-36)

LHP CLAYTON TANNER (1-5, 4.47) VS. RHP STEPHEN FIFE (5-3, 3.35)

June 7, 2011 -- 7:00 PM

Hadlock Field

Game #57/Road #27

Radio Broadcast -- Sports Radio 910 WRNL

Internet Webcast -- www.sportsradio910.com

TONIGHT: The Richmond Flying Squirrels and Portland Sea Dogs will meet in the opener of a three-game series...The Flying Squirrels scored in five out of the eight innings in which they came to bat and Richmond picked up a series-clinching 6-4 win over the Reading Phillies on Sunday afternoon in front of 8,387 fans at The Diamond.

TONIGHT'S STARTERS: Left-hander Clayton Tanner gets the start in the series opener for the Flying Squirrels...Making his 11th start of the season...Enters the season rated as the #30 prospect in the Giants farm system according to Baseball America...Received a no-decision in his last outing 6/1 at Bowie...Allowed two runs, one earned, on three hits in six innings...Struck out four batters and walked two...Retired the first 13 batters he faced before allowing four straight batters to reach base (single, E5, two-run double, walk) in the bottom of the fifth inning...Retired the leadoff batter in all six of his innings on the mound...Recorded 10 groundouts and three flyouts/popouts...Threw 89 pitches, 53 strikes...Threw 15 pitches or fewer in each of his first four innings...Threw 23 pitches in each of his final two innings...Threw first-pitch strikes to 12 of the 24 batters he faced...Recorded his sixth quality start in 10 outings (tied with Eric Surkamp for the team lead)...Team fell to 1-9 in his 10 starts...Has averaged 2.40 runs of support (24R/10GS)...Club has scored two runs or less in six of his 10 starts...Is 1-1 with a 6.52 ERA in two career starts against Portland (9R/7ER in 9.2 IP)...Allowed eight runs, seven earned, on 11 hits over three innings and suffered the loss 8/7/10 at Portland...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.

Right-hander Stephen Fife gets the nod in game one of the series for the Sea Dogs...Making his 10th start of the season...Suffered the loss in his last outing 5/28 against Trenton...Allowed season highs in runs (6) and hits (11) in 4 2/3 innings...Struck out three batters and walked three...Had won each of his previous three outings allowing one earned run (five total) in 17 innings...Is 8-7 with a 5.70 ERA in 19 career starts at Hadlock Field and opponents have hit .289 (110-for-381) against him in Portland...Is 5-2 with a 2.94 ERA in 16 career starts on the road in the Eastern League and opponents have hit .245 (80-for-327) against him away from Portland...Entered the 2010 season rated as the #17 prospect in the Boston Red Sox farm system according to Baseball America....Went 8-6 with a 4.75 ERA in 26 starts, striking out 82 batters and walking 46 in 136 1/3 innings...Named an Eastern League Mid-Season All-Star...Was unable to pitch in the game and was replaced by teammate Jason Rice...Was 5-2 with a 3.83 ERA in 16 starts before the All-Star break...Went 2-3 with a 6.39 ERA in 10 starts after the All-Star break...Made two starts against Richmond and went 0-2 with a 14.04 ERA (13ER/8.1 IP) including giving up 11 runs on 13 hits in 3 1/3 innings 8/8/10 at home against the Flying Squirrels...Went 3-2 with a 4.44 ERA in 10 starts with Advanced-A Salem in 2009...Struck out 51 batters and walked 10 in 50 2/3 innings...Began the 2009 season with Low-A Greenville and went 0-3 with a 2.70 ERA in eight starts...Struck out 35 batters and walked four in 36 2/3 innings...Made his pro debut with Short Season-A Lowell in 2008...Went 1-1 with a 2.33 ERA in 14 appearances, all in relief...Selected by the Boston Red Sox in the 3rd round of the 2008 First-Year Player Draft...Attended the University of Utah.

GETTING OFFENSIVE: The Flying Squirrels scored six runs on 12 hits Sunday afternoon...It was the most runs for the club since scoring six runs 5/26 against Erie (nine games)...The 12 hits were the most for the club since collecting a franchise-best 22 hits 5/15 against Harrisburg (19 games)...It was just the second game over that span in which the club posted 10-plus hits...Richmond's .227 team batting average is second-lowest in MiLB...Only the Low-A Cedar Rapids Kernels have a lower team batting average (.226).

HIP, HIP, JOSE!: Third baseman Jose Flores has hits in a season-high five straight games including collecting a season-best three hits 6/2 at Bowie...The 23-year-old is batting .444 (8-for-18) over that span with a triple, a RBI, and four runs scored...He has walked once and struck out just twice while stealing two bases...Flores has raised his batting average from .173 to .202 over that span as well...Prior to his recent hit streak, he was 3-for-28 (.107) over his previous 10 games.

THE LOW DOWN: Catcher Aaron Lowenstein has hits in a career-long six straight games after going 1-for-3 Saturday night against Reading...The 25-year-old is 7-for-17 (.412) over that span with a double, a RBI, and a run scored...Lowenstein also threw out another baserunner last night and has thrown out 15 baserunners in 20 attempts...His .750 throwing percentage leads all Eastern League catchers with at least 20 attempts.

THE JOLLY ROGER: Outfielder Roger Kieschnick is batting .326 (31-for-95) over his last 25 games with six doubles, a triple, three home runs, 13 RBIs and 13 runs scored...The 24-year-old has 12 multi-hit games over that span which also includes a season-long eight-game hit streak...He has raised his batting average from .173 to .246 since 5/7.

TOUGH TIMES: Outfielder Justin Christian is batting .130 (6-for-46) over his last 13 games with a RBI, two runs scored, seven strikeouts and four walks...His batting average has dropped from .289 to .254 over that span.

PITCHING IN: The Flying Squirrels pitching staff leads the Eastern League with a 2.77 ERA through 56 games, the only staff with a sub-three ERA...Richmond's 2.77 staff ERA is the third-lowest in all of MiLB, trailing the Low-A Burlington Bees (2.65) and Advanced-A Clearwater Threshers (2.71)...The club ranks second in the league with 444 strikeouts, and the pitching staff has logged a league-high 516 1/3 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 8-18 on the road, and it is batting .194 (167-for-859) and averaging 2.85 runs per game (74R/26G) in 26 road contests...Richmond recently completed a stretch of playing 10 out of 13 games at home, going 8-5 over those 13 contests...The Flying Squirrels are 18-11 at home and are batting .253 (262-for-1,035) in 30 games at The Diamond while averaging 4.17 runs per game at home (125R/30G).

Check out the Richmond Flying Squirrels Statistics



Eastern League Stories from June 7, 2011


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