EL1 Richmond Flying Squirrels

Richmond Flying Squirrels Game Notes

Published on July 17, 2011 under Eastern League (EL1)
Richmond Flying Squirrels News Release


RICHMOND FLYING SQUIRRELS (48-43) VS. BOWIE BAYSOX (49-42)

RHP JUSTIN FITZGERALD (6-4, 3.38) VS. LHP MIKE BALLARD (4-0, 3.40)

July 17, 2011 -- 6:05 PM

Prince George's Stadium

Game #92/Road #43

Radio Broadcast -- Sports Radio 910 WRNL

Internet Webcast -- www.sportsradio910.com

TONIGHT: The Richmond Flying Squirrels and Bowie Baysox will meet in the finale of a four-game series...The Baysox scored nine unanswered runs including Brandon Waring's go-ahead three-run homer in the bottom of the second inning as Bowie took game three of the series from the Flying Squirrels 9-2 on Saturday night in front of 7,011 fans at Prince George's Stadium.

TONIGHT'S STARTERS: Right-hander Justin Fitzgerald will get the start in the series finale for the Flying Squirrels...Making his 18th start of the season and his first against the Baysox...Received a no-decision in his last outing 7/7 against Trenton...Allowed one run on three hits in 4 2/3 innings...Struck out seven batters and walked one...Seven strikeouts were a season-high...Allowed a run on three hits in the top of the fifth inning...Allowed the leadoff batter to reach in one of his five innings on the mound (scored once)...Recorded four groundouts and three flyouts/popouts...Threw 87 pitches, 59 strikes...Threw 30 pitches, 21 strikes, in the top of the fifth inning...Went three balls in the count to three of the five batters he faced in the fifth inning...Went three balls in the count to just one of the first 14 batters he faced...Threw first-pitch strikes to 11 of the 19 batters he faced...Named an Eastern League Mid-Season All-Star...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.

Left-hander Mike Ballard gets the nod in the series finale for the Baysox...Making his 16th start of the season and his seventh with Bowie...Received a no-decision in his last outing 7/11 at Altoona...Allowed two runs on five hits in six innings...Struck out four batters and walked one...Outing was his fifth quality start in six total with the Baysox...Has struck out 50 batters and walked three in 45 innings while limiting opponents to a .198 (32-for-162) batting average against him...Earned the win in his lone start against the Flying Squirrels 6/18 at The Diamond...Allowed one run on three hits in eight innings while striking out seven batters and walking none...Only run allowed came on a Johnny Monell two-out, solo home run in the bottom of the eighth inning...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.

SOCKED IN BOWIE: The Flying Squirrels enter tonight's season-finale in Bowie with a 3-9 mark at Prince George's Stadium...Counting last night, the club has had a lead in eight of its nine defeats at Bowie...Overall, Richmond is 7-14 against Bowie this season...Last season, the Flying Squirrels went 16-13 against the Baysox including a 7-7 mark at Prince George's Stadium.

MISSED OPPORTUNITIES: The Flying Squirrels went 0-for-10 with runners in scoring position last night, stranding eight runners on base in a 9-2 loss against the Baysox...Through the first three games of the series, the club is 1-for-19 (.053) with runners in scoring position and has stranded 20 runners...Overall on the season, Richmond is batting .263 (190-for-723) with runners in scoring position...Six of the eight runs scored in the series by the Flying Squirrels have come on home runs, none of which occurred with a runner in scoring position.

THE JOLLY ROGER: Outfielder Roger Kieschnick went 2-for-4 last night with a double and a home run...His two-out, solo homer in the top of the first inning was his team-leading tenth long ball of the season...It was the 25th multi-hit game of the season for the 24-year-old, also tops on the club...Kieschnick and second baseman Charlie Culberson are tied for the team-lead with 29 extra-base hits...Five of the 14 home runs that the Texas-native has hit in the Eastern League have come at Prince George's Stadium.

ON THE ROAD AGAIN: The Flying Squirrels are in the middle of a stretch where they are playing 14 of 20 games on the road...The club recently completed a stretch where it played 19 out of 26 games at home, going 16-10 overall including an 13-6 mark at home...The club is 32-17 overall at home and is batting .261 in 49 games at The Diamond while averaging 4.57 runs per game at home (224R/49G)...Overall, the club is 16-26 on the road, and is batting .208 and averaging 3.29 runs per game (138R/42G) in 42 road contests.

PITCHING IN: The Flying Squirrels pitching staff leads the Eastern League with a 3.12 ERA through 91 games and has allowed a league-low 329 runs...Richmond's pitching staff has allowed two runs or less in 35 of its 91 games (38%)...Starting pitching has allowed three runs or less in 65 of the team's 91 games (71%) and the club is 43-22 in those contests...The club's 3.12 ERA is the second-lowest among all of the full-season MiLB teams, trailing only the Triple-A Gwinnett Braves.

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Eastern League Stories from July 17, 2011


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