Richmond Flying Squirrels (21-18) Vs. Somerset Patriots (25-13) RHP Trenton Toplikar (1-1, 3.18) Vs
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Richmond Flying Squirrels | 3001 N Arthur Ashe Blvd., Richmond, VA 23230 | 804-359-3866 | SquirrelsBaseball.com | @GoSquirrels Richmond Flying Squirrels (21-18) vs. Somerset Patriots (25-13) RHP Trenton Toplikar (1-1, 3.18) vs. RHP Janson Junk (1-1, 0.93) Friday, June 18, 2021 | Game #40 | Road Game #16 7:05 p.m. | TD Bank Ballpark | Bridgewater, N.J. Radio: Sports Radio 910 The Fan & 105.1 FM | TV: MiLB.TV UPCOMING GAMES & PROBABLE PITCHERS Sat., June 19 at Somerset 7:05 p.m. TBD vs. RHP Hayden Wesneski (AA Debut) Sun., June 20 at Somerset 1:05 p.m. LHP Michael Plassmeyer (2-2, 4.89) vs. RHP Glenn Otto (3-0, 1.35) Mon., June 21 OFF DAY Tues., June 22 at Hartford 7:05 p.m. RHP Caleb Kilian (1-0, 2.74) vs. TBD YESTERDAY: The Flying Squirrels dropped their fourth straight game with a 9-3 loss to the Patriots. The Flying Squirrels took 2021 FLYING SQUIRRELS a 1-0 lead in the top of the first inning with four walks, capped by an RBI walk byAndres Angulo. Somerset jumped in front in the bottom of the inning with a three-run homer by Donny Sands, his fourth home run of the series, to take a 3-1 lead. Oswaldo Overall Record ............................... 21-18 Cabrera hit a solo homer in the third to open a 4-1 lead. In the fourth, Jacob Heyward hit a solo home run in the fourth and David First Half ........................................... 21-18 Villar clubbed a solo homer in the fifth to close to gap to 4-3. Somerset added three runs in the fifth and clubbed solo homers Home ...................................................13-11 in the sixth and seventh to pulled ahead 9-3. Richmond was held to three hits in the game. Road ......................................................8-7 TODAY’S GAME: The Flying Squirrels play the fourth of a six-game series against the Somerset Patriots, Double-A affiliate of Place (AA-NE Southwest) ........5th/-7.0 the New York Yankees at TD Bank Ballpark. The game is the first for the Flying Squirrels against the Patriots, who are in their Streak ..................................................... L4 first season as an affiliated team. This is Richmond’s only trip to Somerset this season. The Flying Squirrels will host the Patriots for a six-game series at The Diamond from July 13-18. This series features the top-two teams in the league in ERA on the season Last 5 ..................................................... 1-5 so far. Last 10 .................................................. 5-5 THE FLYING SQUIRRELS have lost five of the last six games after winning five of the previous six. They are in fifth place in the six-team Double-A Northeast Southwest Division, 7.0 games behind first-place Bowie. For the season, the Richmond offense HOME ATTENDANCE INFO is ranked eighth in the league with a .231 batting average. The pitching staff is ranked third in the league with a 3.60 ERA for 2021 Home Attendance ............... 84,483 the season. Home Openings ..................................22 THE PATRIOTS have won four straight games and sit in first place in the Double-A Northeast Northeast Division, 2.5 games Average Attendance ...................3,840 ahead of Portland. The Somerset offense is ranked seventh in the Double-A Northeast with a .246 batting average. The Patri- ots’ pitching staff is leading the league with a 3.04 ERA. The Patriots are in their first season as an affiliated team after picking up the Yankees affiliation during Major League Baseball’s restructuring of the minor leagues this past offseason. The Yankees’ RICHMOND vs. SOMERSET Double-A affiliation was previously with the Trenton Thunder from 2003-2020. The Patriots were a founding member of the in- 2021 vs. Somerset ........................... 0-3 dependent Atlantic League in 1998 and went on to win five league titles (2001, 2003, 2005, 2008, 2009 and 2015). Somerset’s roster includes five of MLB.com’s top-30 Yankees prospects, including SS Oswald Peraza (4), RHP Luis Medina (7), LHP Ken at Richmond .................................. 0-0 Waldichuk (27), RHP Glenn Otto (28) and RHP Hayden Wesneski (30). at Somerset.................................... 0-3 All-Time vs. Somerset ..................... 0-3 FOR RICHMOND: Right-hander Trenton Toplikar makes his fifth start of the season. He last pitched on Sunday against Harris- burg and worked seven innings, allowing two runs on six hits. In his previous start, he tossed six scoreless innings in his first at Richmond .................................. 0-0 Double-A win against Harrisburg last Tuesday. In his last two games, Toplikar is 1-0 with a 1.39 ERA (2 ER/13.0 IP). He has pitched at Somerset.................................... 0-3 in relief four times this season, posting a 0.96 ERA. Toplikar was drafted in the 16th round by the Giants in 2018 out of UC Riv- erside. In 2019, Toplikar began the season with High-A San Jose and made eight starts and seven relief appearances, going 3-1 with a 3.98 ERA. He was sent to Low-A Augusta on June 12 of that season and worked as a starter the rest of the year, going ON THE ROAD TRIP 5-2 with a 3.62 ERA in ten starts. For more on Toplikar, see page two. Games ...................................................... 3 FOR SOMERSET: Left-hander Janson Junk makes his seventh start of the season and his eighth overall appearances. Last time Record .................................................. 0-3 out, he struck out a season-high nine batters in a season-best six scoreless innings to pick up his first win on Sunday at Erie. Of his seven outings this year, he has posted a scoreless outing five times. He picked up a save in his lone relief outing of the year Batters on June 1 against Reading, working the final four innings of the game. Junk was drafted by the Yankees in the 22nd round in 2017 out of Seattle University. He spent most of 2019 with High-A Tampa, going 4-6 with a 5.24 ERA in 12 starts and eight relief Batting Average ................. .163 (17/104) outings. He also made one start on the season for Double-A Trenton and Triple-A Scranton/Wilkes-Barre. RISP ......................................... .152 (5/33) Runs/Runs Per Game ....................9/3.0 TOASTY: Over his last eight games since June 6, Frankie Tostado is batting .333 (10-for-30) with one homer and seven RBIs. He is now second on the team this season with 17 RBIs.. He also leads all qualified Richmond batters with a .268 batting average Home Runs ............................................. 3 this year. Pitchers FABULOUS FABIAN: Over his last 12 games since June 1, Sando Fabian is batting .400 (14-for-35) with one homer, five doubles and nine RBIs while scoring four runs. On Saturday night, Fabian drove a two-run double to put Richmond ahead in the seventh ERA ............................ 7.36 (21 ER/26.1 IP) inning. Fabian hit .184 through his first 18 games of the season, but his performance since June 1 has raised his season average Starter W/L ........................................... 0-1 to .273. Starter ERA ............. 7.50 (10 ER/12.0 IP) Reliever W/L ........................................ 0-2 TORRES ON A TEAR: In his last eight games since June 1, Bryan Torres is batting .438 (7-for-18) with one double and two RBIs. He has seen time defensively this season at catcher, second base and third base. Torres is in his first Double-A season. Prior to Reliever ERA .............. 6.91 (11 ER/14.1 IP) 2021, he had not played higher than the rookie level. Saves/Opps ........................................ 0/2 MO’ TIME: Over his last eight games since June 5, Kyle Mottice is batting .308 (8-for-26) with a double and three RBIs. On the season, he is batting .371 (13-for-35) against left-handed pitchers compared to .200 (12-for-60) against right-handers. He has hit THIS DATE IN HISTORY the ball to the opposite field on 46.3 percent of his balls put in play, which is the second-highest rate in the Double-A Northeast, In 2017, the Flying Squirrels beat the trailing Erie’s John Valente (46.7 percent). Harrisburg Senators, 5-3. It is the only win in team history on a June 18. BREAKING OUT: After going 0-for-14 over his previous four games, David Villar collected three hits on Wednesday night at Somerset, which tied a season high. He also picked up his 17th RBI of the season. He followed with a solo homer on Thursday night, tying the team lead with six home runs this year and moving back into first on the Flying Squirrels with 18 RBIs. STRONG START: The Flying Squirrels’ 21-18 record is tied the second-best start in team history through 39 games, even with the 2018 season and trailing only the team’s 22-17 mark in the franchise’s inaugural season in 2010. GETTING ON THE BOARD: Dating back to August 25, 2019, the Flying Squirrels have scored at least one run in 48 consecutive games. That streak includes all 39 games of the 2021 season. The next closest streak in the league is Bowie, which has not been shut out in 47 consecutive games dating back to August 23, 2019. LAW OF AVERAGES: The 12 teams in the Double-A Northeast have combined to hit .240 this season. In 2019, the Eastern League combined for a .238 batting average, which was the lowest for the circuit since a .234 mark in 1971 and the sixth-lowest since the league was first classified as “Double-A” in 1963.