EL1 Richmond Flying Squirrels

Richmond Flying Squirrels Game Notes

Published on August 4, 2011 under Eastern League (EL1)
Richmond Flying Squirrels News Release


RICHMOND FLYING SQUIRRELS (60-50) VS. NEW HAMPSHIRE FISHER CATS (61-49)

LHP ERIC SURKAMP (8-3, 2.05) VS. RHP CHAD JENKINS (3-4, 4.43)

August 4, 2011 -- 7:05 PM

The Diamond

Game #111/Home #58

Radio Broadcast -- Sports Radio 910 WRNL

Internet Webcast -- www.sportsradio910.com

TONIGHT: The Richmond Flying Squirrels and New Hampshire Fisher Cats will meet in the finale of a three-game series...The Fisher Cats rallied for three runs in the top of the ninth inning and for the second straight night, the Flying Squirrels failed to take advantage with the tying run in scoring position as New Hampshire edged out Richmond 4-3 on Wednesday night in front of 3,960 fans at The Diamond.

TONIGHT'S STARTERS: Left-hander Eric Surkamp will get the start in the series finale for the Flying Squirrels...Making his 18th start and 19th appearance overall this season and the first of his career against the Fisher Cats...Enters the 2011 season rated as the #9 prospect in the San Francisco Giants farm system according to Baseball America...Earned the win in his last outing 7/29 at Trenton...Allowed two runs on five hits in six innings...Struck out 12 batters and walked two...Twelve strikeouts matched a season-high and the Flying Squirrels' single-game franchise record...Has struck out 10-plus batters in four of his last five outings...Recorded three groundouts and three flyouts/popouts...Allowed the leadoff batter to reach in one of his six innings on the mound (scored)...Threw 96 pitches, 64 strikes...Threw 22 pitches in the first inning and 23 pitches in the fifth (allowed runs in both frames)...Threw first-pitch strikes to 16 of the 26 batters he faced...Has not lost since 6/3 against Reading...Is 5-0 over his last eight outings with a 2.23 ERA (12ER/43.1 IP), 66 strikeouts and 14 walks...Ranks second in the Eastern League with a 2.05 ERA, is tied for second in the EL in strikeouts (140), is third in WHIP (1.12), and is fourth in opponent batting average (.221)...His 140 total strikeouts this season are a single-season franchise record surpassing David Mixon's 112 strikeouts from last season...Named an Eastern League Mid-Season All-Star...Placed on the DL (left knee) 6/14 retroactive to 6/10...Activated from the Disabled List 6/24...Named the Eastern League Pitcher of the Week 5/2/11-5/8/11 and again 7/4/11-7/11/11...Made 17 starts with Advanced-A San Jose in 2010 going 4-2 with a 3.11 ERA...Struck out 108 batters and walked 22 in 101 1/3 innings...Had season cut short after injuring his hip attempting to field a ground ball 7/18/10 against Lancaster...Named a California League Mid-Season and Postseason All-Star...Spent all of 2009 with Low-A Augusta and went 11-5 with a 3.30 ERA in 23 starts...Struck out 169 batters and walked 39 in 131 innings, third-most strikeouts in all of MiLB...Selected in the 6th round of the 2008 First-Year Player Draft...Attended North Carolina State University.

Right-hander Chad Jenkins gets the nod in the series finale for the Fisher Cats...Making his 11th start with the New Hampshire and his 22nd overall...Enters the season rated as the #15 prospect in the Toronto Blue Jays farm system according to Baseball America...Earned the win in his last outing 7/30 against Reading...Allowed three runs on six hits in six innings...Struck out five batters and walked two...Victory was his first since 7/4 (four starts)...Has struck out 41 batters while walking 19 in 63 innings...Suffered the loss in his Double-A debut against the Flying Squirrels 6/11...Allowed two runs on seven hits in seven innings...Struck out six batters and walked three...Promoted from Advanced-A Dunedin 6/11...Went 4-5 with a 3.07 ERA in 11 starts with the Dunedin Blue Jays this season...Struck out 44 batters and walked 14 in 67 1/3 innings...Suffered the loss in each of his first four starts going 0-4 with a 3.32 ERA (8ER/21.2 IP) in April...Went 3-1 with a 2.50 ERA (11ER/39.2 IP) in six starts in May...Earned his first win of the season 5/13 at Fort Myers...Victory was his first overall since 7/19/10 against Jupiter (13 starts)...Tossed seven innings or more in three of his last four starts...Made his pro debut with Low-A Lansing in 2010...Went 5-4 with a 3.63 ERA in 13 starts while striking out 64 batters and walking 13 in 79 1/3 innings...Named a Midwest League Mid-Season All-Star...Promoted to Dunedin 6/24/10...Went 1-1 with a 2.77 ERA (4ER/13 IP) in his first two starts...Went a combined 1-5 with a 5.28 ERA (26ER/44.1 IP) in 10 starts in July and August...Entered the season rated as the #3 prospect in the Toronto Blue Jays farm system according to Baseball America...Selected by the Toronto Blue Jays in the first round (#20 overall) of the 2009 First-Year Player Draft...Attended Kennesaw State University...Became the highest draft pick in school history.

OVER BLOWN: Right-hander Heath Hembree blew his first save with the Flying Squirrels last night, ending a run of 32 consecutive successful save opportunities dating back to his time with Advanced-A San Jose...It was the first blown save by Hembree since 4/13 at Lancaster in his third appearance of the season...The Flying Squirrels have been charged with blown saves in consecutive games for the second time this season the first since 4/29-4/30 at Bowie...The 22-year-old also suffered the loss after allowing three runs last night, his first defeat in 54 outings in his career...He still has not picked up his first professional win...The three hits allowed by the South Carolina-native were a career-high as he matched the longest outing of his career by going 1 1/3 innings...Hembree is currently tied with Wes Etheridge, the closer for Advanced-A Dunedin, for the MiLB lead in saves.

DEFENDING THE NEST: After dropping the first two games of the series with the Fisher Cats, the Flying Squirrels have dropped a home series for just the third time this season...Richmond is 11-3-3 in home series...The club's other two series defeats came against Bowie 5/17-5/19 and 6/17-6/19...The team has lost back-to-back games at home for just the second time this season (6/18-6/19 against Bowie), and the club has not lost more than two straight contests at home this year.

HOME AND AWAY: The Flying Squirrels recently completed a stretch where they played 14 of 20 games on the road...The team went 13-7 over that span including an 8-6 mark on the road...Overall, the club is 23-30 on the road, and is batting .224 and averaging 3.58 runs per game (190R/53G) in 53 road contests...The club is 37-20 overall at home - the best home record in the league - and is batting .262 in 57 games at The Diamond while averaging 4.56 runs per game at home (260R/57G).

SAN FRANCISCO: Outfielder Francisco Peguero went 1-for-4 last night with a triple, a RBI, and a run scored...The 23-year-old has hits in six straight games, his fifth hit streak of five games or more since joining the Flying Squirrels from Advanced-A San Jose 6/23...He is 9-for-27 (.333) over his last six games with three triples, three RBIs, and three runs scored...His five triples overall this season are second-most on the team trailing Juan Perez who is tied for the Eastern League lead with eight triples.

PITCHING IN: The Flying Squirrels pitching staff leads the Eastern League with a 3.32 ERA through 110 games and has allowed a league-low 421 runs...Richmond's pitching staff has allowed two runs or less in 43 of its 110 games (39%)...Starting pitching has allowed three runs or less in 79 of the team's 110 games (72%) and the club is 54-25 in those contests.

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Eastern League Stories from August 4, 2011


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