Richmond Flying Squirrels start series against Altoona

After a disastrous series in Bowie, the Flying Squirrels ended the road trip with some respectability and a series spilt against the New Britain Rockcats.

May 6, 2011; 2:04 PM • by Matt Sadler

Previous Series

After a disastrous series in Bowie, the Flying Squirrels ended the road trip with some respectability and a series spilt against the New Britain Rockcats.

Game 1 was all about Eric Surkamp: six innings, one ER, and 10 Strikeouts. That is not a typo…10 Strikeouts. In Game 2 and Game 3, Richmond only managed three runs and fell to New Britain as they doubled the Squirrels output. Game 3, Clayton Tanner showed some mettle in the loss by going six innings strong giving up only two ER and striking out six. Richmond showed some output in the 10th inning of Game 4. Nick Noonan led the inning off with his 2nd home run of the double header and the Squirrels proceeded to score an additional two runs to secure the win.

Altoona Comes to Town

The Pirates AA franchise, the Altoona Curve, visit Richmond as part of a short three game homestand. The Curve took two out of three at home versus Akron and scored 17 runs in the process. Despite last week’s gaudy numbers Altoona is in the middle of the Eastern League standings with a .258 batting average and 106 runs. Their pitching is also middle of the pack with a 3.58 ERA.

Players to Watch

Altoona

• 3B Jeremey Farrell is fourth in the league with a .345 BA.  For all of his offensive prowess, he is lacking on the field. One month into the season and he has 6 errors.
• Baseball America lists C Tony Sanchez and OF Starling Marte on their Top 10 Prospect list for the Pirates organization. Sanchez is at a respectable .284 and Marte is batting .306.

Richmond

• David Mixon makes his first start for Richmond this season on Friday night.  While at Fresno, he was used exclusively out of the bullpen.
• Saturday will showcase Eric Surkamp, who is vying for his 3rd straight dominant performance. He has given up one run in his previous 13 innings.

At the Diamond

Friday night features “Little Elvis” and Saturday is “Amazing Anthony”.

For all those Baseball Moms, Sunday is Pick Camo day. Their will be Pink Camo Hat giveaway and their will be a Pink Camo Jersey Auction.

May 6, 2011 2:04 PM 2