Richmond Flying Squirrels Game Notes
Published on August 7, 2011 under Eastern League (EL1)
Richmond Flying Squirrels News Release
RICHMOND FLYING SQUIRRELS (62-51) VS. PORTLAND SEA DOGS (47-66)
RHP JUSTIN FITZGERALD (8-5, 3.19) VS. RHP ALEX WILSON (8-4, 3.02)
August 7, 2011 -- 5:05 PM
The Diamond
Game #114/Home #61
Radio Broadcast -- Sports Radio 910 WRNL
Internet Webcast -- www.sportsradio910.com
TONIGHT: The Richmond Flying Squirrels and Portland Sea Dogs will meet in the finale of a three-game series...The Flying Squirrels erupted with four runs in the bottom of the first inning and never looked back as Richmond cruised to a 7-5 win over the Sea Dogs on Saturday night in front of 7,397 fans at The Diamond.
TONIGHT'S STARTERS: Right-hander Justin Fitzgerald will get the start in the series finale for the Flying Squirrels...Making his 22nd start of the season and his first career start against the Sea Dogs...Received a no-decision in his last outing 8/2 against New Hampshire...Allowed two runs on seven hits in six innings...Struck out eight batters and walked one...Five of the seven hits he allowed went for extra bases including a leadoff home run from Travis d'Arnaud in the top of the second inning...Allowed the leadoff batter to reach in two of his six innings on the mound (scored once)...Recorded six groundouts and three flyouts/popouts...Threw 96 pitches, 65 strikes...Threw 16 pitches or less in five of his six innings on the mound...Threw 28 pitches in the top of the second inning...Threw first-pitch strikes to 16 of the 25 batters he faced...Has walked just one batter over his last 19 innings on the mound (0.47 BB/9IP)...Had issued 40 walks in his first 91 innings (3.96 BB/9IP)...Is 5-1 with a 2.78 ERA (14ER/45.1 IP) in his last nine starts since suffering the loss 6/10 at New Hampshire...Has struck out 45 batters and walked 11 while limiting opponents to a .211 (35-for-166) batting average over that span...Ranks six in the Eastern League with a 3.19 ERA...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.
Right-hander Alex Wilson gets the nod in the series finale for the Sea Dogs...Making his 20th start of the season...Enters the season rated as the #19 prospect in the Boston Red Sox farm system according to Baseball America...Received a no-decision in his last outing 8/2 at Bowie...Allowed three runs on five hits in four innings in game one of a doubleheader...Struck out two batters and walked one...Outing was his shortest since going three innings 4/20 at Binghamton, and he had gone five innings or more in each of his previous 15 starts...Suffered the loss in his lone start against the Flying Squirrles 6/9...Allowed four runs on five hits in five innings, striking out two batters and walking two...Is 3-0 in seven starts since the loss to Richmond with a 3.08 ERA (13ER/38 IP)...Ranks fourth in the Eastern League with a 3.02 ERA...Named an Eastern League Mid-Season All-Star...Began the 2010 season with Advanced-A Salem and went 2-1 with a 3.40 ERA in 11 starts...Struck out 50 batters and walked 15 in 55 2/3 innings...Limited opponents to a .212 batting average against...Named a Carolina League Mid-Season All-Star...Promoted to Portland 6/15/10...Went 4-5 with a 6.66 ERA in 16 starts with the Sea Dogs...Allowed four runs or more in seven his 16 starts and opponents hit .302 against him...Entered the 2010 season rated as the #21 prospect in the Boston Red Sox farm system according to Baseball America...Made pro debut with Short-Season A Lowell and went 0-1 with a 0.50 ERA in 13 starts...Struck out 33 batters and walked seven in 36 innings of work while limiting opponents to a .085 batting average against...Selected by the Boston Red Sox in the second round of the 2009 First-Year Player Draft...Attended Texas A&M University.
SWEEP DREAMS: The Flying Squirrels will attempt to pick up their second series sweep of the season with a win tonight against the Portland Sea Dogs...Richmond's only series sweep this season occurred 7/4-7/7 in a four-game set against Trenton...The club swept four series last season...Also with a win tonight, the Flying Squirrels could match their high-water mark of the year at 12 games over .500...The team has been 12 games over .500 twice this season and most recently when it was 60-48 entering its current six-game homestand...With a win tonight and losses by the Harrisburg Senators and Bowie Baysox, the Flying Squirrels would be in sole possession of first place in the Western Division for the first time this season...The club was tied for first on seven of the first 11 days of the season (4/7-4/17)...Richmond was in first place for three days (5/13/10-5/15/10) last season.
DEFENDING THE NEST: The Flying Squirrels are 39-21 overall at home - the best home record in the league - and they are batting .262 in 60 games at The Diamond while averaging 4.57 runs per game at home (274R/60G)....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.
SAN FRANCISCO: Outfielder Francisco Peguero went 4-for-4 with a triple, RBI, two runs scored, and a stolen base last night against the Sea Dogs...It was his second four-game of the season for the 23-year-old and the ninth of his career, matching a career-high...It was the third time this season a Flying Squirrels batter collected four hits or more in a game and first since Nick Noonan notched four hits 6/12 at New Hampshire...The triple for Peguero was the fourth in his last six games and his sixth overall in 42 games with Richmond since being promoted from Advanced-A San Jose 6/23.
LOUISVILLE SLUGGER: Third baseman Chris Dominguez went 2-for-4 last night with a home run, two RBIs, and a run scored...Through the first two games in the series with Portland, he is 3-for-8 with a double, a home run, three RBIs, two runs scored and four strikeouts...In his previous 22 contests, the 24-year-old was hitting just .148 (12-for-81) and had seen his average drop from .326 to .243...The Flying Squirrels improved to 16-6 when Dominguez drives in a run.
FRESH SQUEEZED: Second baseman Charlie Culberson dropped a squeeze bunt in the bottom of the fourth inning last night to score Francisco Peguero with Richmond's sixth run of the game...It was the fourth time this season a Flying Squirrel batter has successfully executed a squeeze bunt and the sixth time overall in franchise history...Eric Surkamp was the last Richmond batter to drop down a squeeze bunt 7/24 against Harrisburg.
SUPER SAVER: Right-hander Heath Hembree recorded his 12th save in 13 tries with the Flying Squirrels last night...Overall in 43 games with Advanced-A San Jose and Richmond, the 22-year-old has converted 33 saves in 36 save opportunities, leading all of MiLB...His blown save 8/3 against New Hampshire ended a string of 32 consecutive saves for the South Carolina native.
PITCHING IN: The Flying Squirrels pitching staff leads the Eastern League with a 3.30 ERA through 113 games and has allowed a league-low 430 runs...Richmond's pitching staff has allowed two runs or less in 44 of its 113 games (39%)...Starting pitching has allowed three runs or less in 81 of the team's 113 games (72%) and the club is 55-26 in those contests.
Eastern League Stories from August 7, 2011
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