EL1 Richmond Flying Squirrels

Richmond Flying Squirrels Game Notes

Published on June 18, 2011 under Eastern League (EL1)
Richmond Flying Squirrels News Release


TONIGHT: The Richmond Flying Squirrels and Bowie Baysox will meet in game two of a three-game series...The Flying Squirrels scored a pair of two-out runs in the bottom of the sixth inning to break through a 4-4 tie and claim the series-opener with the Baysox 6-4 on Friday night in front of 6,147 fans at The Diamond.

TONIGHT'S STARTERS: Left-hander Clayton Tanner gets the start in game two of the series for the Flying Squirrels...Making his 13th start of the season...Enters the season rated as the #30 prospect in the Giants farm system according to Baseball America...Earned the win in his last outing 6/12 at New Hampshire...Allowed three runs, two earned, on nine hits in seven innings...Struck out four batters and walked none...Outing matched his longest of the season...Nine hits allowed were a season-high and matched a season-high by a Flying Squirrels pitcher...Outing was seventh quality start in 12 total, tied for the team lead (Eric Surkamp)...Allowed the leadoff batter to reach in four of his seven innings on the mound (scored once)...Recorded 11 groundouts and four flyouts/popouts...Threw 84 pitches, 56 strikes...Threw 13 pitches or less in five of his seven innings on the mound including three innings where he threw less than 10 pitches (4th-6th)...Threw first-pitch strikes to 17 of the 28 batters he faced...Club scored a season-high nine runs in support of him...Team had averaged 2.18 runs of support in his first 11 starts (24R/11GS) and the club had scored two runs or less in seven of those 11 outings...Team improved to 2-10 in his 12 starts...Has made five consecutive starts on the road and nine total...Is 0-2 with a 4.24 ERA in three starts at The Diamond this season...Is 0-1 with a 2.35 ERA (12R/6ER in 23 IP) in four starts against Bowie this season...Is 4-3 with a 3.05 ERA (21ER/62 IP) in 11 career starts against Bowie...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 Mike Ballard gets the nod in game two of the series for the Baysox...Making his 12th start of the season and his third with Bowie...Earned the win in his last outing 6/12 at Portland...Allowed a season-high seven runs on seven hits in five innings...Struck out five batters and walked none...Struck out a season-high 11 batters and allowed one earned run (three total) over seven innings in his first outing with the Baysox 6/5 against New Britain...Sent down from Triple-A Norfolk 6/1...Went 2-4 with a 4.91 ERA in 10 games, nine starts, with the Tides...Struck out 38 batters and walked 17 in 51 1/3 innings...Opponents hit .319 (66-for-207) against him including seven home runs...Tossed a seven-inning, complete-game shutout 5/3 at Louisville...Signed by the Baltimore Orioles as a minor league free agent this past off-season...Has posted a cumulative ERA of 4.50 or higher in four of his first five professional seasons (5.12 ERA in 12 games in 2011)...Spent the 2010 season with Triple-A Oklahoma City...Went 6-8 with a 5.09 ERA in 29 games, 18 starts, while striking out 129 batters and walking 73 in 111 1/3 innings...Opponents hit .311 (142-for-457) against him...Was 5-7 with a 5.14 ERA in his 18 starts while going 1-1 with a 4.87 ERA in his 11 relief appearances...Began the 2009 season with Triple-A Oklahoma City and went 1-2 with a 5.14 ERA in eight appearances, four starts...Sent down to Double-A Frisco 5/14/09...Went 7-6 with a 3.71 ERA in 20 appearances including 18 starts...Worked a career-high 151 2/3 innings between Oklahoma City and Frisco and posted an 8-8 mark and 3.98 ERA...Began the 2008 season with Double-A Frisco and went 8-3 with a 4.02 ERA in 17 games, 16 starts...Went 5-0 with a 2.52 ERA over his final nine appearances before being promoted to Triple-A Oklahoma City 7/18/08...Went 3-3 with a 6.81 ERA in eight starts...Opponents hit .343 (57-for-166) against him...Originally selected by the Texas Rangers in the 14th round of the 2006 First-Year Player Draft...Attended the University of Virginia...Went 9-3 with a 4.09 ERA (42ER/92.1 IP) during his senior season...Graduated in 2006 with a degree in American Politics...Resides in Virginia Beach.

#WINNING: The Flying Squirrels will attempt to improve to a season-high three games over .500 with a win tonight against Bowie...The club is two-games over the .500 for the second time this season and the first since 4/12 when Richmond was 4-2...The Flying Squirrels can also wrap up their fifth consecutive series victory with a win tonight, which would be a first in the two-year history of the franchise...The club has also matched its longest winning streak of the year with victories in three straight contests...Richmond last won three straight games 5/24-5/26.

THE JOLLY ROGER: Outfielder Roger Kieschnick is batting .321 (43-for-134) over his last 35 games with six doubles, three triples, six home runs, 25 RBIs and 20 runs scored...The 24-year-old has 16 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 .256 since 5/7...His five RBIs Thursday night were a season-high for a Richmond batter.

THE DON JUAN: Outfielder Juan Perez went 1-for-4 with a double and a run scored to extend his season-long hit streak to six games...The 24-year-old is 6-for-20 (.300) with two doubles, a triple, two RBIs, and three runs scored over his last six games which includes a seven-day stint on the Disabled List.

PITCHING IN: The Flying Squirrels pitching staff leads the Eastern League with a 2.95 ERA through 65 games, the only staff with a sub-three ERA...Richmond's 2.95 staff ERA is the second lowest in all of MiLB, trailing only the Low-A Burlington Bees (2.94)...The pitching staff has logged a league-high 595 1/3 innings of work and has allowed a league-low 230 runs.

FRESH PICKED: Right-hander Daryl Maday picked off Bowie center fielder Xavier Avery in the top of the fifth inning last night...It was the 13th baserunner picked off by Richmond pitchers this season and fifth picked off by Maday.

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 22-12 at home and is batting .253 (294-for-1,163) in 34 games at The Diamond while averaging 4.44 runs per game at home (151R/34G)...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.

Check out the Richmond Flying Squirrels Statistics

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Eastern League Stories from June 18, 2011


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