Richmond Flying Squirrels | 3001 N Boulevard, Richmond, VA 23230 | 804-359-3866 | SquirrelsBaseball.com | @GoSquirrels Hartford Yard Goats vs. Richmond Flying Squirrels Game 1: RHP Brandon Gold vs. LHP Conner Menez Game 2: RHP Jordan Foley vs. LHP Garrett Williams April 6, 2019 | Games #2 & #3 | Home Games #2 & #3 5:05 p.m. | The Diamond | Richmond, Va. UPCOMING GAMES & PROBABLE PITCHERS Sun., April 7 vs. Hartford 1:05 p.m LHP Ty Culbreth vs. RHP Brandon Beachy Mon., April 8 vs. Bowie 6:35 p.m. RHP Tyler Herb vs. TBD Tues., April 9 vs. Bowie 7:05 p.m. LHP Bruce Zimmermann vs. TBD Wed., April 10 vs. Bowie 10:35 a.m. RHP Marcos Molina vs. TBD THURSDAY: The Flying Squirrels topped the Hartford Yard Goats, 1-0, in front of a be- 2019 FLYING SQUIRRELS yond-capacity crowd of 9,845, tying the largest attendance in team history. Logan Webb Overall Record ................................... 1-0 worked around five walks to post five scoreless innings and allowed just two hits.Fernan - Home ................................................ 1-0 do Abad (2.0 IP), Melvin Adon (1.0 IP) and Sam Wolff (1.0 IP) combined to complete the Road ................................................. 0-0 shutout. Hartford put the potential tying run on third in the ninth, but the Wolff stranded the runner to earn the save. The game’s lone run scored in the fifth inning afterDylan Da- Place (E.L. Western) ............T-2nd/-0.5 vis led off the inning with a double and later scored on a double play.Johneshwy Fargas Streak .................................................... W1 went 2-for-4 with a double. Last 5 ..................................................... 1-0 Last 10 ................................................... 1-0 TONIGHT’S GAMES: The Richmond Flying Squirrels continue the opening series of their 10th season with the second and third of four games against the Hartford Yard Goats, ATTENDANCE INFO Double-A affiliate of the Colorado Rockies. Friday’s game was postponed due to rain. 2019 Home Attendance ..................9,845 Home Openings ..................................... 1 GO FOR TWO: A win in tonight’s first game would match the best start in franchise history for the Flying Squirrels. The team has only won back-to-back games to open a season Average Attendance ...................9.845 once, which occurred during the 2015 season with 3-2 and 1-0 wins against Bowie. The Flying Squirrels have never won three straight games to begin a season. RICHMOND vs. HARTFORD 2019 vs. Hartford ............................... 1-0 PACKING THE HOUSE: Thursday marked the tenth consecutive home-opening sellout ................................... 1-0 for the Flying Squirrels, and tied last season’s home-opening crowd of 9,845 for the larg- at Richmond est in franchise history. It was the fourth time in Flying Squirrels history the crowd size at Hartford ...................................... 0-0 surpassed the official sellout mark of 9,560. It was also the 49th sellout in Flying Squirrels All-Time vs. Hartford ..................20-20 history. Richmond holds a 33-19 record (including three double-headers) when The Dia- at Richmond .................................12-8 mond is at capacity. at Hartford ................................... 8-12* HOME COOKIN’: In the franchise’s first ten home openers, the Flying Squirrels have now ON THE HOMESTAND combined to go 8-2, including wins in each of the last five. The Flying Squirrels also won Games ....................................................... 1 the first three home-opening games from 2010-12, and the only two losses came in back- Record ................................................... 1-0 to-back season in 2013 and 2014. BLANK SPACE, BABY: Thursday’s 1-0 victory marked the first Opening Day shutout in Fly- Batters ing Squirrels history. It avenged a season-opening shutout to the New Britain Rock Cats Batting Average ................... .172 (5/29) (now Hartford) exactly six years earlier on April 4, 2013 at The Diamond, which is the only RISP .............................................1/11 (.091) time the Squirrels have been blanked on Opening Day. It was also one of three shutouts Runs/Runs Per Game ......................1/1.0 in the five Eastern League games played. Home Runs .............................................0 FOR RICHMOND: Left-hander Conner Menez makes his first start of the 2019 season in Pitchers Game 1. Last year, Menez spent most of the season with Richmond, going 6-4 with a 4.38 ERA ..............................0.00 (0 ER/9.0 IP) ERA in 15 starts. He also pitched 11 games with A-Adv. San Jose and one with Triple-A Sacramento, combining to go 9-10 with a 4.46 ERA in 28 total starts across the three lev- Starter W/L ........................................... 1-0 els. Menez led the Giants organization with 171 total strikeouts, 32 ahead of second-place Starter ERA ............... .000 (0 ER/5.0 IP) John Gavin. It was also tied for the fourth-most strikeouts in the minors (led by Dean Reliever W/L ........................................ 0-0 Kremer of the Orioles organization). Menez is in his fourth professional season and was Reliever ERA .............0.00 (0 ER/9.0 IP) selected by the San Francisco Giants in the 14th round of the 2016 MLB Draft out of the Saves/Opps ...........................................1/1 Master’s University. He entered this season ranked by Baseball America as the No. 25 Giants prospect. For more on Menez, see page two. THIS DATE IN HISTORY Left-hander Garrett Williams takes the mound for his first start of 2019 in Game 2 after In 2017, the Flying Squirrels topped splitting all of 2018 between the bullpen and starting rotation with Richmond. He made 14 the Hartford Yard Goats, 11-1, in front starts last season and went 2-6 with a 6.00 ERA before moving to the bullpen when the of a sellout crowd at The Diamond on calendar turned to July. As a reliever, he posted a 5.96 ERA in 18 appearances. Williams Opening Night. Dan Slania allowed is ranked by Baseball America as the No. 21 Giants prospect and by MLB.com as the No. one run in six innings with eight strike- 20 Giants prospect. For more on Williams, see page three. outs. Slade Heathcott, Brandon Bed- nar and Miguel Gomez each had two FOR HARTFORD: Right-hander Brandon Gold makes his Double-A debut for the Yard Goats. Last year, he went 9-9 with a 5.44 ERA in his 27 starts with A-Adv. Lancaster, hits. Chris Shaw hit a two-run homer picking up a career-high 121 strikeouts. He was drafted in the 12th round in 2016 by the in the first inning. Gomez, Ryan Lollis Rockies out of Georgia Tech. and T.J. Bennett each drove in two runs. In game two, right-hander Jordan Foley will make his 2019 and Rockies organization debut. He split last season between A-Adv. Tampa and Double-A Trenton. In the Eastern League, Foley went 4-4 with a 2.98 ERA in 37 appearances. Foley was traded by the Yan- kees to the Rockies for RHP Jefry Valdez on November 20. THE WILLIE HARRIS ERA: Willie Harris returns for a second season managing the Flying Squirrels, becoming just the second manager in franchise history to lead the club for mul- tiple seasons (Dave Machemer - 2011-13). Harris is in his third season as a manager in the minor leagues overall and has compiled a 118-160 record. He was officially appointed as the manager of the Flying Squirrels on December 14, 2017. PROSPECT WATCH: The Flying Squirrels’ roster features eight of Baseball America’s top-30 Giants prospects, including right-handed pitcher Logan Webb (6), outfielderChris Shaw (11), right-handed pitcher Melvin Adon (12), outfielderHeath Quinn (15), left-handed pitcher Garrett Williams (21), infielderRyan Howard (24), left-handed pitcher Conner Menez (25) and infielderJalen Miller (30). Seven players are also on MLB.com’s top-30 Giants prospects, including Webb (5), Shaw (11), Quinn (13), Adon (15), Williams (21), How- ard (28) and Miller (29). 2019 RICHMOND FLYING SQUIRRELS GAME INFORMATION Page 1 STARTING PITCHER CONNER MENEZ | LEFT-HANDED PITCHER CAREER HIGHS IP (START): 8.0, 6/30/17 (SJ @ MOD) HEIGHT WEIGHT BATS THROWS IP (RELIEF): 4.0, 7/16/16 (GIA @ ANG) 6-2 198 Left Left RUNS ALLOWED: 7, 3x, last – 8/14/18 (RIC @ BOW) BORN: May 29, 1995 WALKS: 5, 3x, last – 8/8/18 (RIC vs. BNG) BIRTHPLACE: Hollister, Calif. STRIKEOUTS: 11, 8/19/18 (RIC vs. HFD) AGE: 23 (Turns 24 on May 29) MOST HITS ALLOWED: 10, 2x, last – 8/2/18 (RIC @ NH) ACQUIRED: 14th round - 2016 SCHOOL: The Master’s University 2019 HIGHS IP (START): -- RUNS ALLOWED: -- WALKS: -- 2019 GAME-BY-GAME STRIKEOUTS: -- MOST HITS ALLOWED: -- DATE OPPONENT DEC IP H R ER BB SO LEFT GAME RESULT -- 4/6 (1) Hartford SCORELESS STREAK: RUNS ALLOWED BY INNING (STARTS) 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 TOTAL -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- FUNN FACTS - Conner Scott Menez - Grew up in Hollister, Calif. as a Giants fan and col- lected Barry Bonds’ baseball cards as a kid - Ranked by Baseball America as the No. 25 Giants prospect entering 2019 - Attended San Benito High School in Hollister, Ca- lif. - Grandfather, Bill Plummer, played 10 MLB seasons with the Reds, Cubs and Mariners, winning two World Series championships with Cincinnati in 1975 and 1976 as the back-up to Johnny Bench, and he later managed in the minors and spent time as the minor league catching coordinator for the Arizona Diamondbacks Bold - Career High Italics - Relief Outing WEBB vs. HARTFORD --, -- DATE H/R DEC IP H R/ER K/BB MENEZ CAREER STATS 4/6 (1) H YR CLUB W-L ERA G GS CG SHO SV IP H R ER HR BB SO 16 AZL Giants (Rk.) 2-0 2.57 8 2 0 0 0 21.0 15 7 6 0 4 26 HARTFORD vs.