EL1 Richmond Flying Squirrels

Richmond Flying Squirrels Game Notes

August 25, 2011 - Eastern League (EL1)
Richmond Flying Squirrels News Release


RICHMOND FLYING SQUIRRELS (69-61) VS. AKRON AEROS (66-64)

LHP CHUCK LOFGREN (2-1, 3.60) VS. RHP BRETT BRACH (1-0, 3.27)

August 25, 2011 -- 7:05 PM

Canal Park

Game #131/Road #64

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 four-game series...The Altoona Curve used five hits, two walks, and an error to score five runs in the bottom of the seventh inning, overcoming a 2-1 deficit and earning a 6-2 series-clinching win on Wednesday night in front of 6,811 fans at Blair County Ballpark.

TONIGHT'S STARTERS: Left-hander Chuck Lofgren will get the start in the series opener for the Flying Squirrels...Making his seventh start with the Flying Squirrels and his 10th start of the season...Making his second career start against Akron...Went 17-14 with a 4.42 ERA in 62 career appearances including 49 starts in parts of three season with Aeros (2007-2009)...Received a no-decision in his last outing 8/20 against Akron...Allowed two runs on seven hits in four innings plus two batters...Struck four hitters and walked four...Walked four of the final five batters he faced...Allowed the leadoff batter to reach in three of his five innings on the mound (scored twice)...Gave up a leadoff home run to Karexon Sanchez in the top of the third inning...Recorded five flyouts/popouts and three groundouts...Threw 86 pitches, 47 strikes...Threw 18 pitches or more in three of his five innings on the mound...Threw 26 pitches in the top of the fourth inning...Went three balls in the count to eight of the 23 batters he faced...Threw five pitches or more to 10 of the 23 batters he faced...Threw first-pitch strikes to 13 of the 23 batters he faced....Received from Advanced-A San Jose 7/21...Sent down to San Jose from Triple-A Fresno 7/19...Suffered the loss in his lone outing with Fresno 7/18 at Reno...Promoted to Fresno from San Jose 7/18...Went 2-0 with a 3.68 ERA in 18 games, two starts with the Giants...Struck out 24 batters and walked 15 in 29 1/3 innings...Signed by the San Francisco Giants as a minor league free agent 12/14/10...Went 7-8 with a 5.19 ERA in 28 games, 23 starts with Triple-A Nashville in 2010...Selected by the Milwaukee Brewers in the Rule 5 Draft 12/10/09...Began the 2009 season with Double-A Akron and went 3-1

with a 1.48 ERA in eight starts... Promoted to Triple-A Columbus and went 6-10 with a 5.31 ERA in 17 starts...Spent the entire 2008 season with Double-A Akron and went 2-6 with a 5.99 ERA in 28 games, 15 starts...Entered the 2008 season rated as the #2 prospect in the Cleveland Indians farm system according to Baseball America...Went 12-7 with a 4.37 ERA in 26 starts with Double-Akron in 2007...Made start with Triple-A Buffalo 6/8/07...Entered the 2007 season rated as the #2 prospect in the Cleveland Indians farm system according to Baseball America...Went 17-5 with a 2.32 ERA in 25 starts with Advanced-A Kinston in 2006...Named the Carolina League Pitcher of the Week three times during the season...Named a Carolina League Mid-Season and Postseason All-Star as well as the Carolina League Pitcher of the Year...Entered the season rated as the #8 prospect in the Cleveland Indians according to Baseball America...Originally selected by the Cleveland Indians in the fourth round of the 2004 First-Year Player Draft.

Right-hander Brett Brach gets the nod in the series opener for the Aeros...Making his 22nd start of the season and his third with Akron...Has not won since 7/8 against Lynchburg (six starts)...Received a no-decision in his last outing 8/20 against Richmond...Allowed five runs, four earned, on seven hits in five innings...Struck out two batters and walked two...Gave up a two-out, two-run homer to Roger Kieschnick in the bottom of the fifth inning...Allowed the leadoff batter to reach in three of his five innings on the mound (scored twice)...Threw 73 pitches, 45 strikes...Threw 28 pitches in the bottom of the third inning...Promoted from Advanced-A Kinston 8/20...Went 6-9 with a 3.60 ERA in 21 appearances, 19 starts, with the K-Tribe...Struck out 72 batters and walked 37 in 115 innings...Limited opponents to a .229 (97-for-424) batting average against...Went 0-4 with a 6.28 ERA (20ER/28.2 IP) over his final five starts with Kinston including losing three straight starts (7/26-8/7)...Made one start with Akron 4/19 at Bowie and allowed two hits over six scoreless innings...Struck out four batters and walked one...Appeared in one game in relief with Triple-A Columbus 6/10 against Rochester...Earned the win, allowing two runs on six hits in 4 2/3 innings...Spent the majority of the 2010 season with Low-A Lake County...Went 5-8 with a 3.46 ERA in 22 starts, striking out 90 batters and walking 28 in 119 2/3 innings...Began the season with Advanced-A Kinston, joining the K-Tribe 4/21/10, and went 0-1 with a 3.38 ERA in two relief appearances...Assigned to Extended Spring Training 4/30 and sent to Lake County 5/10...Made pro debut in 2009 with Short Season-A Mahoning Valley and went 5-2 with a 2.19 ERA in 15 starts...Struck out 61 batters and walked 20 in 78 innings...Selected by the Cleveland Indians in the 10th round of the 2009 First-Year Player Draft...Attended Monmouth University (NJ)...Older brother Brad was selected by the San Diego Padres in the 42nd round of the 2008 First-Year Player Draft...Currently with Triple-A Tucson.

THE PLAYOFF RACE: The Flying Squirrels enter tonight's series opener with the Akron Aeros trailing the Bowie Baysox by 2 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 10 with 12 games left in the season for both teams...Any combination of Baysox wins and Flying Squirrel losses that equal 10 would eliminate the club from playoff contention...Richmond will need to finish three games better than Bowie over the final 12 contests to overtake the Baysox for second place in the Western Division...The Flying Squirrels will play eight of their final 12 games against teams currently with records of .500 or better (Akron and New Britain) while the Baysox have no games left against teams with winning records (Erie and Altoona)...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 nine entering play today.

THROWN A CURVE: Down 2-1, the Altoona Curve scored five runs in the bottom of the seventh inning en route to a 6-2 win over the Flying Squirrels...The five runs allowed by Richmond in the inning were the most given up in a frame by the club since the Trenton Thunder scored five runs in the bottom of the third inning on their way to a 17-5 win 7/30 at Waterfront Park...The club fell to 3-27 when allowing six or more runs.

CANADIAN BACON: Super utility man Skyler Stromsmoe went 2-for-4 in last night with a solo home run, giving him a career-long 10-game hitting streak...He has matched Nick Noonan's team season-long 10-game hit streak 4/21-5/1...The Bow Island, Alberta, Canada, native is 16-for-33 (.485) with a double, a triple, two home runs, six RBIs, 10 runs scored and two walks over the 10-game hit streak...The 27-year-old has homered twice in his last eight games after going 242 at-bats between home runs (6/14/10 at Reading - 8/18/11 against Bowie)... Since 7/1, he is hitting .337 (32-for-95) with four doubles, a triple, two home runs, 14 RBIs and 17 runs scored in 41 games, raising his average from .203 to .283.

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 26-37 on the road, and is batting .225 and averaging 3.49 runs per game (220R/63G) in 63 road contests...The team plays eight of its final 12 games on the road.

PITCHING IN: The Flying Squirrels pitching staff leads the Eastern League with a 3.43 ERA through 130 games and has allowed a league-low 502 runs...Richmond's pitching staff has allowed two runs or less in 48 of its 130 games (37%)...Starting pitching has allowed three runs or less in 91 of the team's 130 games (70%) and the club is 61-30 in those contests.

Check out the Richmond Flying Squirrels Statistics



Eastern League Stories from August 25, 2011


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