EL1 Richmond Flying Squirrels

Richmond Flying Squirrels Game Notes

Published on August 19, 2011 under Eastern League (EL1)
Richmond Flying Squirrels News Release


RICHMOND FLYING SQUIRRELS (66-57) VS. AKRON AEROS (64-60)

RHP JUSTIN FITZGERALD (8-7, 3.42) VS. LHP MATT PACKER (6-11, 4.41)

August 19, 2011 -- 7:05 PM

The Diamond

Game #124/Home #65

Radio Broadcast -- Sports Radio 910 WRNL

Internet Webcast -- www.sportsradio910.com

TONIGHT: The Richmond Flying Squirrels and Akron Aeros will meet in the opener of a three-game series...The Bowie Baysox used a four-run fifth inning to overcome and early deficit and hold off the Flying Squirrels 5-4 in the finale of a three-game series on Thursday night in front of 8,813 fans at The Diamond.

TONIGHT'S STARTERS: Right-hander Justin Fitzgerald will get the start in the series opener for the Flying Squirrels...Making his 24th start of the season and his second career start against the Aeros...Suffered the loss in his last outing 8/13 at Binghamton...Allowed four runs, three earned, on eight hits in 6 2/3 innings...Struck out five batters and walked three...Had issued three walks total over his previous 23 1/3 innings (four starts)...Allowed two runs on four hits in the bottom of the third inning...Allowed the leadoff batter to reach once in his seven innings on the mound (scored)...Recorded 10 groundouts and five flyouts/popouts...Threw 97 pitches, 60 strikes...Threw three pitches or less to 19 of the 32 batters he faced...Threw first-pitch strikes to 21 of the 32 batters he faced....Received a no-decision in his lone start at Akron 5/30...Allowed two runs, one earned, on three hits in 5 2/3 innings...Struck out five batters and walked four...Ranks tied for eighth in the Eastern League with a 3.42 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 fi rst 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 Matt Packer gets the nod in the series opener for the Aeros...Making his 24th start of the season and his second against the Flying Squirrels...Enters the season rated as the #23 prospect in the Cleveland Indians farm system according to Baseball America...Earned the win in his last outing 8/14 at New Hampshire...Allowed one run on three hits in eight innings...Struck out seven batters and walked one...Is 4-3 over his last eight starts and he has allowed two runs or less in seven of the eight outings (2.28 ERA)...Has gone seven innings or more in seven of his last eight starts...Has struck out 51 batters and walked seven over that span...Was 2-8 over his first 15 starts with a 5.98 ERA...Had allowed five runs or more in seven of his first 15 starts while going seven innings or more just three times...Has struck out 110 batters while walking 25 in 104 2/3 innings...Earned the win in his lone start against Richmond 5/27...Allowed one run on four hits in seven innings...Struck out four batters and walked three...Leads the Eastern League in innings pitched (140 2/3) and is tied for second in losses (11)...Began the 2010 season with Low-A Lake County andwent 8-5 with a 1.60 ERA in 24 games, 13 starts...Struck out 92 batters and walked 13 in 95 2/3 innings...Limited opponents to a .218 batting average against...Went 6-4 with a 1.31 ERA in his 13 starts...Promoted to Akron 8/3/10...Went 1-2 with a 3.16 ERA in six games, five starts, striking out 31 batters and walking nine in 37 innings...Made pro debut with Short-Season A Mahoning Valley in 2009 and went 0-0 with a 2.38 ERA in five games...Struck out 13 batters and walked one in 11 1/3 innings...Selected by the Cleveland Indians in the 32nd round of the 2009 First-Year Player Draft...Attended the University of Virginia...Majored in History.

WALKED ALL OVER: The Flying Squirrels issued eight walks in last night's 5-4 loss to the Bowie Baysox...It was the most walks issued by the club's pitching staff since allowing a season-high 11 walks in a 17-5 loss at Trenton 7/30...Left-hander Clayton Tanner issued five walks in five innings, a season-high for the 23-year-old...Richmond ranks eighth in the Eastern League in walks issued as a staff (376).

FAST START: The Flying Squirrels scored another run in the bottom of the first inning last night, giving the club 73 total runs scored in the first frame this season...The only other more productive run-scoring frame for the club is the sixth in which the team has scored 75 total runs...Of the Richmond's 73 first-inning runs, 52 of them have been scored at The Diamond.

CANADIAN BACON: Super utility man Skyler Stromsmoe went 2-for-4 last night with a home run, two RBIs, and a run scored...The home run for 27-year-old was his first since 6/14/10 at Reading (242 at-bats) and just his seventh in 244 games in his five-year professional career...The Bow Island, Alberta, Canada, native went 5-for-10 with a triple, home run, two RBIs, three runs scored and a walk in the three-game series with Bowie...He is hitting .292 (21-for-72) with three doubles, a triple, a home run, 10 RBIs and 10 runs scored in 34 games since 7/1, raising his average from .203 to .250.

SAN FRANCISCO: Outfielder Francisco Peguero went 1-for-4 last night extending his hit streak to seven games, his sixth hit streak of five games or more and his longest in 50 games since joining the Flying Squirrels 6/23...The Dominican is 18-for-43 (.419) with his in 10 of his last 11 games overall with two doubles, a triple, six RBIs, and nine runs scored, raising his batting average from .272 to .302.

POCKETS PICKED: Since 7/9, opposing baserunners are 41-for-46 (.891) over Richmond's last 39 games in stole base attempts...Over that span, the only baserunner to get thrown out by a catcher was New Hampshire's Adeiny Hechavarria by Johnny Monell 8/2...The other four runners thrown out on the bases where caught by pitchers...The Flying Squirrels rank 10th in the 12-team Eastern League with a stolen base against efficiency of .256 (40-for-156).

HOME AND AWAY: The Flying Squirrels are 41-23 overall at home - the best home record in the Eastern League - and they are the only team in the league with more than 37 wins at home...They are batting .264 in 64 games at The Diamond while averaging 4.58 runs per game at home (293R/64G)....Overall, the club is 25-34 on the road, and is batting .224 and averaging 3.51 runs per game (207R/59G) in 59 road contests...Following the team's current six-game homestand, it will play 12 of its final 16 games on the road.

PITCHING IN: The Flying Squirrels pitching staff leads the Eastern League with a 3.40 ERA through 123 games and has allowed a league-low 477 runs...Richmond's pitching staff has allowed two runs or less in 46 of its 123 games (37%)...Starting pitching has allowed three runs or less in 86 of the team's 123 games (70%) and the club is 58-28 in those contests.

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Eastern League Stories from August 19, 2011


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