Squirrels head out for 4 1/2 at Altoona

The Flying Squirrels dropped their next-to-last homestand of the season to the Reading Phillies and saw hot-hitting Brandon Belt called up to the Fresno Grilzzlies. The Squirrels dropped 2 of 3 at the Diamond to the R-Phils to fall to 62-66, four games under .500, with 13 games left. The Squirrels won the 2nd game […]

August 26, 2010; 12:22 PM • by John Murden

The Flying Squirrels dropped their next-to-last homestand of the season to the Reading Phillies and saw hot-hitting Brandon Belt called up to the Fresno Grilzzlies.

The Squirrels dropped 2 of 3 at the Diamond to the R-Phils to fall to 62-66, four games under .500, with 13 games left. The Squirrels won the 2nd game of the series, a contest that was halted when a fan threw a foul ball back onto the field. The ball bounced and hit the R-Phils pitcher, J.C.Ramirez on the leg. The fan was ejected from the game and other news accounts say that he has been banned from the Diamond. The Squirrels were 8-12 against the Phillies this season, after taking the 1st series 3-1 (including the season home-opener) from Reading.

The craptacular video below shows the Brandon Belt at bat that led to the foul ball situation. Belt hits the foul into the upper deck at the 0:55 mark and the ball is thrown back onto the field a few seconds later and then hits the pitcher. You can’t really see the ball, but you can hear the crowd’s reaction fairly well.

The Squirrels head out to Altoona, PA, for a 4-game series with the Western Division leaders, and also to complete a game suspended for rain on July 12. Already ahead 6-3 in the 4th, Richmond has a leg up on Altoona going in.

This make-up game will be the last with 1B/OF Brandon Belt appearing in the box score for Richmomd, as he was called up to the AAA Fresno Grizzlies. Belt wasted no time in making his presence felt and hit a homerun last night in his first game. It was announced today that the Squirrels will be receiving Brock Bond from Fresno. An All-Star each of the last 2 years, Bond hit .333 in 122 games with the AA Connecticut Defenders n 2009 and .285 with the AAA Fresno Grizzlies in 117 games in 2010.

EASTERN LEAGUE UPDATE: The Eastern Division leading Trenton Thunder (77-53) became the 1st team to clinch a play-off spot. The New Hampshire Rock Cats (74-55) should join them in the next 3-5 days. The Portland Sea Dogs (61-68) became the 2nd team to be officially elimated. The New Britain Rock Cats (39-91) are still looking at the possibility losing 100 games with 12 games left. The Altoona Curve look to have a lock on winning the Western Division, but the battle for the remaining play-off spot has gotten heated with the Harrisburg Senators (69-60) sqeezing ahead of the Bowie Baysox (68-62).

Series Schedule

August 26 5:30PM (AWAY)
(Completion of game suspended on 7/12/10)
Richmond Flying Squirrels vs Altoona Curve

August 26 7:00PM (AWAY)
Richmond Flying Squirrels vs Altoona Curve
Westcott (3-1, 5.03) vs. Owens (10-6, 2.67)

August 27 7:00PM (AWAY)
Richmond Flying Squirrels vs Altoona Curve
Romero (4-2, 3.40) vs. Watson (5-2, 2.73)

August 28 7:00PM (AWAY)
Richmond Flying Squirrels vs Altoona Curve
MacDonald (4-8, 4.21) vs. Locke (3-1, 2.89)

August 29 6:00PM (AWAY)
Richmond Flying Squirrels vs Altoona Curve

Eastern League Standings

EAS Eastern
Club	W	L	PCT	GB	ELIM#	Home	Away	L10	Streak
Trenton	77	53	.592	–	–	44-23	33-30	6-4	W1
New Hampshire	74	55	.574	2.5	–	34-29	40-26	6-4	L1
Binghamton	62	66	.484	14.0	3	33-33	29-33	5-5	L1
Reading	62	66	.484	14.0	2	33-30	29-36	5-5	W1
Portland	61	68	.473	15.5	E	28-34	33-34	3-7	L2
New Britain	39	91	.300	38.0	E	20-43	19-48	5-5	W1

EAS Western
Club	W	L	PCT	GB	ELIM#	Home	Away	L10	Streak
Altoona	76	53	.589	–	–	36-26	40-27	7-3	L1
Harrisburg	69	60	.535	7.0	–	35-31	34-29	6-4	W2
Bowie	68	62	.523	8.5	12	37-30	31-32	3-7	L2
Akron	66	64	.508	10.5	10	34-33	32-31	3-6	W2
Richmond	62	66	.484	13.5	8	34-32	28-34	4-6	L1
Erie	59	71	.454	17.5	3	30-33	29-38	6-4	W1