EL1 Richmond Flying Squirrels

Richmond Flying Squirrels Game Notes

Published on June 16, 2011 under Eastern League (EL1)
Richmond Flying Squirrels News Release


RICHMOND FLYING SQUIRRELS (32-32) VS. BINGHAMTON METS (21-42)

RHP JUSTIN FITZGERALD (4-4, 3.48) VS. RHP BRAD HOLT (2-5, 4.26)

June 16, 2011 -- 7:05 PM

The Diamond

Game #65/Home #33

Radio Broadcast -- Sports Radio 910 WRNL

Internet Webcast -- www.sportsradio910.com

TONIGHT: The Richmond Flying Squirrels and Binghamton Mets will meet in the finale of a three-game series...The Flying Squirrels jumped out to an early 4-0 lead through five innings and held on to knock off the B-Mets 5-3 in game two of the series on Wednesday night in front of 5,154 fans at The Diamond.

TONIGHT'S STARTERS: Right-hander Justin Fitzgerald gets the start in the series finale for the Flying Squirrels...Making his 13th start of the season...Suffered the loss in his last outing 6/10 at New Hampshire...Allowed five runs on eight hits in 3 1/3 innings...Struck out two batters and walked one...Gave up four straight hits to start the bottom of the fourth inning...Outing was his shortest of the season and matched the shortest by a starter this season...Had allowed six runs (four earned) total over his previous four starts (2-0)...Allowed the leadoff batter to reach in two of his four innings on the mound (scored once)...Recorded five flyouts/popouts and two groundouts...Threw 77 pitches, 49 strikes...Threw 24 pitches or more in two of his four innings on the mound (1st & 4th)...Threw first-pitch strikes to eight of the 19 batters he faced...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 Brad Holt gets the nod in the series finale for the B-Mets...Making his 13th start of the season...Enters the 2011 season rated as the #10 prospect in the New York Mets farm system according to Baseball America...Suffered the loss in his last outing 6/10 at Trenton...Allowed seven runs, five earned, on four hits in three innings...Struck out three batters and walked six...Seven runs allowed matched a season-high...Sixth time in 12 starts in which he failed to go at least five innings...Opponents are batting .206 (45-for-218) against him...Has struck out 38 batters and has walked 40 in 57 innings including walking a season-high eight batters in four innings 5/19 at New Hampshire...Is tied for second in the Eastern League in walks...Has walked at least one batter in each of his last 39 appearances on the mound (since 7/28/09 at Altoona)...Began the 2010 season with Binghamton and went 1-5 with a 10.20 ERA in 10 games, nine starts...Struck out 25 batters and walked 23 in 30 innings...Opponents hit .336 (43-for-128) against him...Sent down to Advanced-A St. Lucie 6/18/10...Went 2-9 with a 7.48 ERA in 14 starts with the St. Lucie Mets...Struck out 62 batters and walked 56 in 65 innings...Lost seven of his final nine starts...Entered the 2010 season rated as the #5 prospect in the New York Mets farm system according to Baseball America...Began the 2009 season with St. Lucie and went 4-1 with a 3.12 ERA in nine starts...Struck out 54 batters and walked 13 in 43 1/3 innings...Limited opponents to a .215 (34-for-158) batting average...Named a Florida State League Mid-Season All-Star...Promoted to Binghamton 6/3/09...Injured his ankle in his Double-A debut 6/5/09 against Connecticut and went 22 days between starts...Went 3-6 with a 6.21 ERA in his 11 starts with the B-Mets, allowing five runs or more in five of those outings...Struck out 45 batters and walked 23 in 58 innings...Entered the 2009 season rated as the #4 prospect in the New York Mets farm system according to Baseball America...Made his pro debut with Short-Season A Brooklyn in 2008 and went 5-3 with a 1.87 ERA in 14 starts...Struck out 96 batters and walked 33 in 72 1/3 innings...Limited opponents to a .171 (43-for-251) batting average...Named a New York-Penn League Mid-Season All-Star...Selected by the New York Mets in the supplemental first round (#33 overall) of the 2008 First-Year Player Draft...Attended the University of North Carolina-Wilmington.

HIGH FIVE: The Flying Squirrels scored five runs last night, marking the 24th time in 64 games that the club has scored five runs or more...Richmond is 21-3 when scoring five runs or more this season.

OVER THE TOP': The Flying Squirrels will attempt to climb back over the .500 mark in tonight's contest against Binghamton for the first time since 4/15 when they were 5-4...Richmond has previously been at .500 five times since 4/15 and the team has been unable to get a win on any of those occasions.

SERIES OF WINS: The Flying Squirrels will attempt to claim their fourth consecutive series in the finale of the three-game set with the B-Mets tonight...The club has not won more than three consecutive series in the two-year history of the franchise...Richmond had also won three straight series 7/29/10-8/15/10 (7-3)...In each of the team's last three series wins, the club has dropped the opener before winning the final two games...Richmond has lost seven straight series-openers; however, the club has won the next game six out of those seven times...The Flying Squirrels are 6-3 in rubber matches and 10-9 overall in series finales.

THE JOLLY ROGER: Outfielder Roger Kieschnick is batting .317 (40-for-126) over his last 33 games with six doubles, two triples, five home runs, 19 RBIs and 18 runs scored...The 24-year-old has 15 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 .252 since 5/7.

PITCHING IN: The Flying Squirrels pitching staff leads the Eastern League with a 2.87 ERA through 63 games, the only staff with a sub-three ERA...Richmond's 2.87 staff ERA is the lowest in all of MiLB...The pitching staff has logged a league-high 586 1/3 innings of work and has allowed a league-low 221 runs.

NO PLACE LIKE HOME: The Flying Squirrels have begun a stretch where they will play 20 out of 27 games at home...The club is 20-12 at home and is batting .250 (275-for-1,098) in 32 games at The Diamond while averaging 4.19 runs per game at home (134R/32G)...Richmond recently completed a stretch where it played 13 of 16 games on the road...The team went 8-8 over that stretch including a 6-7 mark on the road...Overall, the club is 12-20 on the road, and is batting .201 (215-for-1,069) and averaging 3.22 runs per game (103R/32G) in 32 road contests.

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Eastern League Stories from June 16, 2011


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