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Richmond Flying Squirrels

Richmond Flying Squirrels Game Notes

August 24, 2011 - Eastern League (EL1)
Richmond Flying Squirrels News Release


RICHMOND FLYING SQUIRRELS (69-60) VS. ALTOONA CURVE (58-71)

RHP JUSTIN FITZGERALD (8-8, 3.38) VS. RHP PHIL IRWIN (6-4, 4.61)

August 24, 2011 -- 7:00 PM

Blair County Ballpark

Game #130/Road #63

Radio Broadcast -- Sports Radio 910 WRNL

Internet Webcast -- www.sportsradio910.com

TONIGHT: The Richmond Flying Squirrels and Altoona Curve will meet in the finale of a four-game, three-day series...The Flying Squirrels scored three first-inning runs en route to a 6-2 win in game one of a doubleheader before the Curve broke through a 3-3 tie in game two on a Quincy Latimore RBI single in the bottom of the sixth inning as the two clubs split the twin-bill on Tuesday night in front of 4,538 fans at Blair County Ballpark.

TONIGHT'S STARTERS: Right-hander Justin Fitzgerald will get the start in the series finale for the Flying Squirrels...Making his 25th start of the season and his fourth career start against the Curve...Suffered the loss in his last outing 8/19 against Akron...Allowed two runs on seven hits in seven innings...Struck out seven batters and walked one...Allowed four straight hits with two outs in the top of the first inning including a two-run homer to Chun Chen...Retired 17 of the final 21 batters he faced...Allowed the leadoff batter to reach in two of his seven innings on the mound...Recorded 11 groundouts and one flyout/popout...Threw 95 pitches, 61 strikes...Threw 14 pitches or less in each of his final six innings on the mound...Threw 24 pitches in the first inning...Threw first-pitch strikes to 18 of the 27 batters he faced...Is 0-3 over his last three starts with a 4.50 ERA (9ER/18 IP) and opponents are batting .306 (22-for-72) against him over that span...Is 1-1 with a 5.40 ERA (9ER/15 IP) in three starts against Altoona with nine strikeouts and six walks...Curve batters are hitting .390 (23-for-59) against him...Ranks sixth in the Eastern League with a 3.38 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 Phil Irwin gets the nod in the series finale for the Curve...Making his 22nd start of the season and his 12th with Altoona...Suffered the loss in his last outing 8/19 at Reading...Allowed five runs on seven hits in six innings...Struck out three batters and walked one...Loss was his first since 7/22 against New Britain...Was 3-0 over his previous four starts with a 3.09 ERA (8ER/23.1 IP) with a 19 strikeouts and one walk...Has struck out 92 batters and walked 18 in 121 2/3 total innings with Advanced-A Bradenton and Altoona...Has not issued more than two walks in any of his 22 outings this season...Promoted from Advanced-A Bradenton 6/19...Went 5-0 with a 2.03 ERA in 10 starts with the Marauders striking out 40 batters and walking 12 in 53 1/3 innings...Allowed one earned run or less in eight of his 10 starts...Spent the entire 2010 season with Low-A West Virginia and went 6-3 with a 3.35 ERA in 23 games, 20 starts...Struck out 111 batters and walked 20 in 113 innings...Ranked fourth in the South Atlantic League in WHIP (1.05) and was seventh in ERA (3.35)...Made his pro debut with Short-Season A State College in 2009...Went 1-2 with a 2.12 ERA in 10 games, seven starts...Struck out 32 batters and walked six in 29 2/3 innings...Named a New York-Penn League Mid-Season All-Star...Selected by the Pittsburgh Pirates in the 21st round of the 2009 First-Year Player Draft...Attended the University of Mississippi...Was teammates in 2009 at Ole Miss with Akron outfielder Jordan Henry and for Akron left-hander Drew Pomeranz.

THE PLAYOFF RACE: The Flying Squirrels enter tonight series finale with the Altoona Curve trailing the Bowie Baysox by 1 1/2 games for the Wild Card in the Western Division...The Baysox will play one fewer game (141) than the Flying Squirrels (142) this season...Bowie's magic number to eliminate Richmond is 12 with 13 games left in the season for both teams...Any combination of Baysox wins and Flying Squirrel losses that equal 12 would eliminate the club from playoff contention...Richmond will need to finish two games better than Bowie over the final 13 contests to overtake the Baysox for second place in the Western Division...The Flying Squirrels will play eight of their final 13 games against teams currently with winning records (Akron and New Britain) while the Baysox have just one game remaining against a team with a winning mark (Akron)...Eight of Bowie's final 12 games are against Erie...The Harrisburg Senators magic number to eliminate the Flying Squirrels from winning the Western Division is 10 with their win over Portland earlier today.

ONE IS THE LONELIEST NUMBER: The Flying Squirrels fell to 13-22 in one-run games with last night's 4-3 loss in game two of the doubleheader with the Curve...The club's .371 winning percentage in one-run contests is second-lowest in the Eastern League, ahead of only Portland's mark of .300 (9-21)...Richmond is 1-6 in one-run games in August and the team has dropped each of its last three games decided by a lone including two in its current series with Altoona.

CANADIAN BACON: Super utility man Skyler Stromsmoe went 3-for-6 in last night's doubleheader with a RBI and two runs scored, giving him a career-long nine-game hitting streak...He is one game shy of matching Nick Noonan's team season-long 10-game hit streak 4/21-5/1...The Bow Island, Alberta, Canada, native is 14-for-29 (.483) with a double, a triple, a home run, five RBIs, nine runs scored and two walks over the nine-game hit streak...The home run for 27-year-old on Thursday was his first since 6/14/10 at Reading (242 at-bats) and just his seventh in his first 244 games over his five-year professional career... Since 7/1, he is hitting .330 (30-for-91) with four doubles, a triple, a home run, 13 RBIs and 16 runs scored in 40 games, raising his average from .203 to .277.

WHERE THERE'S A WILL-IAMS, THERE'S A WAY: Catcher Jackson Williams blasted hit third home run with the Flying Squirrels last night, a two-run shot in the top of the third inning in game two of the doubleheader...The 25-year-old is 7-for-31 (.226) in 10 games with Richmond and four of his 10 hits have gone for extra bases including a double and the three home runs...The long ball was his fourth overall this season in 66 games with Triple-A Fresno and Richmond and his 21st home run in 412 career games...Last season, Williams hit two home runs in 60 total games with the Flying Squirrels including the first home run in franchise history hit at The Diamond (4/15/10).

HOME AND AWAY: The Flying Squirrels are 43-24 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...The club's 43 wins at home are fifth-most of all of the full-season teams in MiLB...They are batting .261 in 67 games at The Diamond while averaging 4.52 runs per game at home (303R/67G)....Overall, the club is 26-36 on the road, and is batting .225 and averaging 3.52 runs per game (218R/62G) in 62 road contests...The team plays nine of its final 13 games on the road.

PITCHING IN: The Flying Squirrels pitching staff leads the Eastern League with a 3.40 ERA through 129 games and has allowed a league-low 496 runs...Richmond's pitching staff has allowed two runs or less in 48 of its 129 games (37%)...Starting pitching has allowed three runs or less in 91 of the team's 129 games (71%) and the club is 61-30 in those contests.

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