EL1 Richmond Flying Squirrels

Richmond Flying Squirrels Game Notes

Published on June 8, 2011 under Eastern League (EL1)
Richmond Flying Squirrels News Release


RICHMOND FLYING SQUIRRELS (27-30) VS. PORTLAND SEA DOGS (20-36)

LHP RYAN VERDUGO (3-1, 2.50) VS. RHP BROCK HUNTZINGER (3-4, 7.11)

June 8, 2011 -- 7:00 PM

Hadlock Field

Game #58/Road #28

Radio Broadcast -- Sports Radio 910 WRNL

Internet Webcast -- www.sportsradio910.com

TONIGHT: The Richmond Flying Squirrels and Portland Sea Dogs will meet in game two of a three-game series...Right-hander Stephen Fife took a no-hit bid into the seventh inning and he and two relievers combined on a two-hit shutout of the Flying Squirrels as the Sea Dogs claimed the series opener 6-0 on Tuesday night in front of 4,050 fans at Hadlock Field.

TONIGHT'S STARTERS: Left-hander Ryan Verdugo gets the nod in game two of the series for the Flying Squirrels...Making his 11th start of the season...Enters the 2011 season rated as the #25 prospect in the San Francisco Giants farm system according to Baseball America...Earned the win in his last outing 6/2 at Bowie...Allowed two hits over eight scoreless innings...Struck out 10 batters and walked one...Outing was the longest of his career and matched the longest by a Flying Squirrels pitcher this season...Ten strikeouts matched a career high and franchise record...Struck out six of the final eight batters that he faced...Didn't allow a hit until two outs in the bottom of the sixth inning (E6 in the fourth inning later changed to a single)...Retired the leadoff batter in all eight innings on the mound...Recorded nine popouts/flyouts and three groundouts...Threw 97 pitches, 63 strikes...Threw 14 pitches or less in seven of his eight innings on the mound...Threw 19 pitches in the seventh inning...Threw first-pitch strikes to 19 of the 26 batters he faced including throwing first-pitch strikes to the final 14 batters he faced...Named the Eastern League Pitcher of the Week 5/30/11-6/5/11...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.

Right-hander Brock Huntzinger gets the nod in game two of the series for the Sea Dogs...Making his 10th start of the season...Earned the win in his last outing 6/2 at New Britain...Allowed three hits over six scoreless innings...Struck out seven batters and walked two...Outing was his longest of the season...Victory was his first since 4/27...Had gone 0-2 with a 10.34 ERA (18ER/15.2 IP) over his previous four starts...Was on the DL from 5/24-6/1 with a right finger laceration...Has failed to go at least five innings in six of his nine starts...Opponents are batting .350 (57-for-163) against him...Spent the 2010 season with Advanced-A Salem and went 7-8 with a 4.14 ERA in 25 starts...Struck out 69 batters and walked 35 in 134 2/3 innings...Named a Carolina League Mid-Season All-Star...Made 25 starts with Low-A Greenville in 2009 and went 10-9 with a 4.09 ERA...Struck out 102 batters and walked 32 in 125 1/3 innings...Entered the 2009 season rated as the #29 prospect in the Boston Red Sox farm system according to Baseball America...Went 2-3 with a 7.09 ERA in six starts with Greenville in 2008...Began the season with Short-Season A Lowell and went 5-0 with a 0.64 ERA in eight starts...Allowed three runs in 42 innings and limited opponents to a .168 (25-for-149) average...Struck out 32 batters and walked seven...Was twice selected as the New York-Penn League Pitcher of the Week...Made pro debut with Rookie GCL Red Sox in 2007...Went 0-1 with a 2.57 ERA in four games, three starts...Allowed three runs, two earned, on five hits in seven innings while striking out eight and walking none...Selected by the Boston Red Sox in the third round of the 2007 First-Year Player Draft.

SEA SICK: The Flying Squirrels were shutout for the fifth time this season in last night's 6-0 loss at Portland...The club's two hits were the fewest since the club managed just one hit in a 4-2 loss at Bowie 5/31...It was the sixth time this season that the team was held to three hits or less in game...The Flying Squirrels have been limited to two runs or less in 24 of their 57 games this season...Richmond's .224 team batting average is the lowest in MiLB...The Low-A Cedar Rapids Kernels moved ahead of the Flying Squirrels with a team batting average of .227.

TOUGH TIMES: Outfielder Justin Christian is batting .140 (7-for-50) over his last 14 games with a RBI, two runs scored, eight strikeouts and four walks...His batting average has dropped from .289 to .254 over that span...Second baseman Charlie Culberson is batting .142 (7-for-49) over his last 12 games with three doubles, no RBIs and three runs scored...The 22-year-old has struck out 14 times and has walked just once over that span while seeing his batting average dip from .301 to .267.

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 .313 (31-for-99) over his last 26 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 .241 since 5/7.

PITCHING IN: The Flying Squirrels pitching staff leads the Eastern League with a 2.83 ERA through 57 games, the only staff with a sub-three ERA...Richmond's 2.83 staff ERA is the third-lowest in all of MiLB, trailing the Low-A Burlington Bees (2.64) and Advanced-A Clearwater Threshers (2.72)...The pitching staff has logged a league-high 524 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 team is 4-7 through the first 11 games of that stretch including a 2-6 mark on the road...Overall, the club is 8-19 on the road, and is batting .190 (169-for-890) and averaging 2.74 runs per game (74R/27G) in 27 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).

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Eastern League Stories from June 8, 2011


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