Richmond Flying Squirrels | 3001 N Arthur Ashe Blvd., Richmond, VA 23230 | 804-359-3866 | SquirrelsBaseball.com | @GoSquirrels Richmond Flying Squirrels (17-32) vs. Reading Fightin Phils (28-20) RHP Alfred Gutierrez (1-2, 4.54) vs. RHP Ramon Rosso (3-1, 3.32) Friday, May 31, 2019 | Game #50 | Road Game #21 7:10 p.m. | FirstEnergy Stadium | Reading, Pa. Radio: Sports Radio 910 The Fan | TV: MiLB.TV UPCOMING GAMES & PROBABLE PITCHERS Sat., June 1 at Reading (G1) 5:15 p.m. LHP Garrett Williams (1-5, 5.45) vs. RHP Adonis Medina (2-2, 4.26) Sat., June 1 at Reading (G2) TBD TBD vs. RHP Jose Taveras (1-0, 0.00) Sun., June 2 at Reading 2:15 p.m. RHP Brandon Lawson (1-1, 3.82) vs. LHP JoJo Romero (0-2, 8.18) Mon., June 3 at Reading 9:45 a.m. LHP Caleb Baragar (1-0, 2.31) vs. LHP David Parkinson (5-2, 3.02) YESTERDAY: The Flying Squirrels lost their fourth straight game with a 9-4 defeat to the Binghamton Rumble Ponies, who capped a three-game sweep at The Diamond. Binghamton scored two in the first, the only two runs against Conner Menez in 2019 FLYING SQUIRRELS his five innings. Menez finished the game with nine strikeouts. In the fifth, Zach Houchins scored Richmond’s first run when he Overall Record ...............................17-32 scored on a wild pitch. The Flying Squirrels took a 3-2 lead in the sixth when Jonah Arenado reached on a single with Will Mad- Home ..................................................9-20 dox scoring on a throwing error and Matt Winn brought in the go-ahead run with a squeeze bunt. Binghamton scored five runs in the seventh to take the lead and pull away. Binghamton added a run in the eighth to push the lead to 8-3. Arenado singled in Road ....................................................8-12 a run in the eighth, but the Rumble Ponies added another score with an RBI single by Ali Sanchez in the ninth. Place (E.L. Western) ............... 6th/-15.0 TODAY’S GAME: The Flying Squirrels play the first of a five-game, four-day series against the Reading Fightin Phils, Double-A Streak ..................................................... L4 affiliate of the Philadelphia Phillies. It is the first of an 11-game, ten-day road trip to Reading, Portland and New Hampshire, the Last 5 ......................................................1-4 longest road stretch of the season for Richmond. It is Richmond’s second trip to Reading this season. The two teams split a Last 10 ...................................................3-7 rain-shortened, two-game set at FirstEnergy Stadium April 13 and 14. The Fightin Phils swept a three-game series at The Dia- mond from April 22-24 and won two of three against the Flying Squirrels in Richmond from May 21-23. The Flying Squirrels are HOME ATTENDANCE INFO trying to end their fourth losing streak of the season of four games or longer. The Flying Squirrels are 10-21 this season in games 2019 Home Attendance ..............160,870 following a loss and 0-5 on Fridays. Home Openings ..................................27 THE FLYING SQUIRRELS have dropped four straight games, including being swept by Binghamton in their last series. Since Average Attendance ...................5,958 April 16, the Flying Squirrels have gone 11-28, and they’re 7-19 since May 2. The Richmond offense ranks eighth in the league with a .230 batting average. The pitching staff has combined for a 3.98 team ERA, which is tenth in the circuit. The Flying Squir- rels have lost six of the last eight series, with the exceptions being two four-game splits against Akron. The last series win for Richmond came when it won two of three in Bowie from April 29-May 1. Richmond is 8-19 in May. RICHMOND vs. READING THE FIGHTIN PHILS have won 10 of their last 14 games since May 16 and had won three straight series before splitting two 2019 vs. Reading .............................. 2-6 games against Erie in their last set. The Fightin Phils have gone 17-10 in May, the third-best mark in the league this month behind Hartford (18-8) and Binghamton (19-10). On the season, Reading has a 3.38 team ERA, which is third in the Eastern League, and a at Richmond ................................... 1-5 .219 team batting average, which is last in the league. Reading’s roster includes seven of MLB.com’s Top-30 Phillies prospects, at Reading .........................................1-1 including Adonis Medina (2), JoJo Romero (7), Mickey Moniak (9), Arquimedes Gamboa (13), Mauricio Llovera (15), David Parkin- All-Time vs. Reading....................62-79 son (21) and Cornelius Randolph (25). at Richmond ............................. 36-35 FOR RICHMOND: Right-hander Alfred Gutierrez makes his tenth start of the season for the Flying Squirrels and his third at Reading ................................. 26-44 against the Fightin Phils. Last time out, he picked up his first win of the season and collected season highs in IP (5.2) and strike- outs (7) at Akron on Sunday. He faced Reading on April 22 at The Diamond and worked 3.2 inning without allowing a run, but left after throwing 72 pitches. He pitched against the Fightin Phils in Richmond again on May 21 and allowed three runs over 4.1 ON THE LAST HOMESTAND innings in a no-decision. Gutierrez is in his first season with the Giants organization after spending the previous seven with the Games ...................................................... 3 Detroit Tigers. Last year, he spent time at three levels and made seven starts for the Erie SeaWolves in the Eastern League. He spent most of the season split between the starting rotation and bullpen with A-Adv. Lakeland and was named a Florida State Record .................................................. 0-3 League Mid-Season All-Star. For more on Gutierrez, see page two. Batters FOR READING: Right-hander Ramon Rosso makes his ninth start of the season for the Fightin Phils and his second against the Flying Squirrels. In his last outing, he worked a season-high 7.0 innings and allowed one run at Harrisburg on Saturday in a Batting Average .............. .267 (28/105) no-decision. He faced the Flying Squirrels on April 13 in Reading and picked up a win after working 5.1 scoreless innings with RISP ......................................... .321 (9/28) seven strikeouts. Rosso is in his first season with the Fightin Phils after going 11-3 with a 2.04 ERA in 23 outings (22 starts) last year between Single-A Lakewood and A-Adv. Clearwater. Runs/Runs Per Game .................. 10/3.3 Home Runs .............................................0 ROAD WARRIORS: The Flying Squirrels are currently in a stretch of playing 15 of 18 games on the road dating back to May 24. In that span, the Flying Squirrels will travel approximately 2,288 miles (44 bus hours) around the northeast, almost long enough to cover the direct distance between Richmond and San Francisco. Pitchers ERA ...........................3.72 (12 ER/29.0 IP) EAST FEAST: From May 28-June 23, the Flying Squirrels play 23 of 26 games against teams from the Eastern Division. Today is the fourth game against the East in that stretch. The Flying Squirrels are 0-3 against the East in this cross-divisional span. Starter W/L .......................................... 0-0 Richmond is 6-15 against the opposite division this year. Starter ERA ............... 1.20 (2 ER/15.0 IP) HEYWARD HEATING UP: Over his last five games since May 26,Jacob Heyward is batting .364 (8-for-22) with a homer, a dou- Reliever W/L ........................................ 0-3 ble and two RBIs. That stretch has raised his season batting average from .268 to .277, which is tied for seventh in the Giants Reliever ERA ........... 6.43 (10 ER/14.0 IP) organization. For the season, Heyward is ranked tied for fourth in the Eastern League with a .406 on-base percentage, seventh Saves/Opps ........................................ 0/2 with an .860 OPS and tied for third with 27 walks. He leads all qualified Eastern League hitters with a .411 BABIP. A LITTLE RELIEF: Over 10 games from May 18-28, the Richmond bullpen combined for a 1.40 ERA (7 ER/45.0 IP). On Tuesday, THIS DATE IN HISTORY the bullpen saw a scoreless streak snapped at 25.1 innings with a game-tying, two-out single by Binghamton’s Jason Krizan in In 2013, the Flying Squirrels shut out the top of the ninth inning. In the last two games, Flying Squirrels relievers have posted a 10.13 ERA (9 ER/8.0 IP). Over the last seven games, the Flying Squirrels bullpen has allowed 13 unearned runs, at least one per game. the Erie SeaWolves, 2-0, at The Dia- mond. Richmond starter Carlos Teller EXTRA! EXTRA!: For the season, the Flying Squirrels have gone 1-5 in five extra-inning games. After winning their first game in extras on April 6 with a walk-off sac fly byHeath Quinn, Richmond has lost its last four. With the runner placed at second base worked 5.1 innings and allowed three as per MiLB’s pace-of-play rules, the Flying Squirrels offense has failed to score in seven of its last extra frames. For the season, the Flying Squirrels are hitting .043 (1-for-23) in extra innings with 12 strikeouts. hits, working around six walks. Re- liever Omar Javier pitched 2.2 score- RISPROBLEMS: For the season, the Flying Squirrels are batting .211 (87-for-412) with runners in scoring position, which is ranked last in the Eastern League. With runners in scoring position and two outs, Richmond is batting .202 (40-for-198) for the season, less frames and closer Daryl Maday which is 11th in the league.