Squirrels split 4 with Baysox, gear up for Reading Phillies

The Squirrels split an away series against the Bowie Baysox and now return home for games with the Reading Phillies and the division-leading Altoona Curve. The Flying Squirrels (48-53) won the first 2 games in Bowie (55-47) handily. They never trailed in the 3-2 opener, and hammered the Baysox 14-4 on Friday night. The last […]

July 26, 2010; 11:05 AM • by John Murden

The Squirrels split an away series against the Bowie Baysox and now return home for games with the Reading Phillies and the division-leading Altoona Curve.

The Flying Squirrels (48-53) won the first 2 games in Bowie (55-47) handily. They never trailed in the 3-2 opener, and hammered the Baysox 14-4 on Friday night. The last 2 of the series mirrored the openers, with Bowie walloping the Squirrels 10-0 on Saturday and then cruising to a 4-3 win in the closer.

With these 2 losses and 2 wins, the Squirrels failed to make any ground on the 2nd place Baysox – they started and ended the series 6 1/2 games out of contention. With 6 weeks and 41 games left, it’s looking fairly certain that the Flying Squirrels won’t be in the playoffs come September. The Flying Squirrels went 12-9 in April, 15-15 in May, 10-18 in June, and 11-11 so far in July. If the club puts together a solid last few weeks, there is still a shot at putting together a winning season this year.

The Squirrels have gone 7-6 against the Reading Phillies (49-50) for 2010, 3-1 at home. The 2 teams haven’t played in Richmond since the opening series here back in April. The Squirrels took 3 of 4 in that series and went on to win 14 of their next 17 games, flirting briefly with 1st place on May 3. Reading hold 5th place in the Eastern Division and, like Richmond, is also playing for a winning season at this point.

Despite the sub-.500 records, the two clubs are league leaders in attendence. Through 51 home games, the Phillies are averaging 6,456 paid per game and the Squirrels are right behind them with 6,400 paid per game. Portland is third best in the Eastern League with 5,617 per game.

Monday July 26 – 7:05PM (HOME)
David Mixon (10-5, 3.31)/Richmond vs J.C. Ramirez (2-2, 4.80)/Reading
Richmond Flying Squirrels vs Reading Phillies
“The Flying Squirrels will be hosting an Awful Night at the ballpark on Monday, July 26th courtesy of Appliance Solutions. There will be a Muell petting zoo, dirty t-shirt toss, melted popsicle giveaway to the first 500 fans, and much more! Appliance Solutions will be handing out $50 gift cards because what’s more awful than your appliances breaking?!”

Tuesday July 27 – 7:05PM (HOME)
Richmond Flying Squirrels vs Reading Phillies
“It’s Allen & Allen 100 Hometown Heroes Night! Fans will be given the chance to nominate which Hometown Hero from Richmond they think should be honored at the game! The game will also be sponsored by Lite 98 and Richmond Magazine! KRAFT Singles Tuesday Night Tickets: Buy 1 Ticket, Get 1 Free from KRAFT Singles with purchase. Bring your package wrapper to a Flying Squirrels Game on Tuesdays for a steal of a deal! Visit kraftsingles.com for more info! Exclusions apply.”

Wednesday July 28 – 7:05PM (HOME)
Richmond Flying Squirrels vs Reading Phillies
“It’s Fan vs. Food at The Diamond presented by Westchester Commons and 98.9 Liberty! The first 3,000 fans will receive Thundersticks courtesy of Westchester Commons. It’s also WAWA Wednesday – If the Squirrels win you win a coupon courtesy of WAWA!”

EAS Eastern
Club	W	L	PCT	GB	ELIM#	Home	Away	L10	Streak
Trenton	60	41	.594	–	–	33-15	27-26	6-4	L1
New Hampshire	59	43	.578	1.5	–	26-22	33-21	4-6	L2
Binghamton	52	50	.510	8.5	34	28-24	24-26	3-7	L1
Portland	50	51	.495	10.0	32	24-26	26-25	6-4	L3
Reading	49	50	.495	10.0	33	29-23	20-27	5-5	L1
New Britain	30	72	.294	30.5	12	14-40	16-32	3-7	W2

EAS Western
Club	W	L	PCT	GB	ELIM#	Home	Away	L10	Streak
Altoona	58	42	.580	–	–	27-22	31-20	3-7	W1
Bowie	55	47	.539	4.0	–	32-22	23-25	6-4	W2
Akron	53	47	.530	5.0	41	27-24	26-23	8-2	W1
Harrisburg	52	50	.510	7.0	38	25-26	27-24	7-3	W3
Richmond	48	53	.475	10.5	35	26-25	22-28	6-4	L2
Erie	41	61	.402	18.0	27	19-28	22-33	3-7	W1