Richmond Flying Squirrels | 3001 N Boulevard, Richmond, VA 23230 | 804-359-3866 | SquirrelsBaseball.com | @GoSquirrels Altoona Curve (13-13) vs. Richmond Flying Squirrels (10-14) RHP Yeudy Garcia (0-0, 1.84) vs. RHP Alfred Gutierrez (0-1, 4.61) Friday, May 3, 2019 | Game #25 | Home Game #14 7:05 p.m. | The Diamond | Richmond, Va. Radio: Sports Radio 910 The Fan | TV: MiLB.TV UPCOMING GAMES & PROBABLE PITCHERS Sat., May 4 Altoona 6:05 p.m. LHP Cam Vieaux (0-2, 2.20) vs. TBD Sun., May 5 Altoona 1:05 p.m. RHP Scooter Hightower (1-2, 4.63) vs. LHP Conner Menez (1-1, 2.49) Mon., May 6 Trenton 6:35 p.m. TBD vs. LHP Garrett Williams (1-2, 4.30) Tues., May 7 Trenton 6:35 p.m. TBD vs. RHP Brandon Lawson (0-0, 4.05) YESTERDAY: The Flying Squirrels lost the homestand opener to the Altoona Curve, 9-2. Hamlet Marte gave the 2019 FLYING SQUIRRELS Flying Squirrels a 1-0 lead with an RBI double in the bottom of the second. Richmond starter Brandon Lawson faced the minimum over his first three innings before exiting after being struck by a line drive in the top of the Overall Record ............................... 10-14 fourth. Beginning in the third, Altoona scored in each inning through the eighth to open a 9-1 lead against the Home .................................................... 5-8 Flying Squirrels bullpen. Jonah Arenado hit a two-out RBI single in the ninth to pull within 9-2, but Altoona re- Road ..................................................... 5-6 liever Vicente Campos got the game’s final out. Curve starter Pedro Vasquez allowed one run over 5.0 innings to pick up his second win of the year. Place (E.L. Western) ............... 5th/-10.5 Streak ......................................................L1 TODAY’S GAME: The Flying Squirrels play the second of a four-game series against the Altoona Curve, Dou- Last 5 .................................................... 2-3 ble-A affiliate of the Pittsburgh Pirates, and the second of a seven-game homestand against Altoona (0-1) and ...................................................3-7 Trenton. Tonight’s game is the eighth of 21 games scheduled against Altoona this season and the fifth of 10 Last 10 meetings at The Diamond. Altoona won two of three in the first series between the two teams from April 18-20, including two shutouts. The Curve also won two of three at PNG Field last weekend. This series marks the third HOME ATTENDANCE INFO consecutive weekend the two Western Division rivals have faced each other. 2019 Home Attendance .................72,125 THE FLYING SQUIRRELS have lost 11 of the last 15 games since April 16 and nine of 12 since April 20, but have Home Openings ....................................11 picked up wins in three of their last six games since Saturday. The Richmond offense ranks 10th in the league Average Attendance ...................6,557 with a .221 batting average, but has surged to third in the circuit with 21 homers. The pitching staff has combined for a 3.60 team ERA, which is eighth in the circuit. After dropping four straight series (at Hartford, vs. Altoona, vs. Reading, at Altoona) and splitting the previous two (vs. Bowie, at Reading), the Flying Squirrels picked up their RICHMOND vs. ALTOONA first series win since the first set of the year with two wins at Bowie this week. 2019 vs. Altoona ............................... 2-5 THE CURVE have alternated wins and losses over their last seven games. After taking two of three in Altoona at Richmond ....................................1-3 last weekend, the Curve faced the Erie SeaWolves this week at home and dropped two of three. On Monday, at Altoona ........................................ 1-2 Altoona was no-hit by SeaWolves pitcher and top Tigers prospect Casey Mize in his Double-A debut. Altoona All-Time vs. Altoona ..................83-103 pitchers have combined for a 3.04 ERA, which is third-best in the league. The Curve threw three straight shut- outs against the Flying Squirrels, a double-header sweep on April 20 and the series opener in Altoona on April at Richmond ..............................47-40 26. Altoona offense is ranked third in the Eastern League with a .243 batting average. Altoona has posted a at Altoona .................................. 36-63 2.90 ERA (19 ER/59.0 IP) against Richmond on the year. The Curve’s roster includes two of MLB.com’s Top-30 Pirates prospects, including Jared Oliva (12) and Stephen Alemais (26 - on IL). ON THE HOMESTAND FOR RICHMOND: Right-hander Alfred Gutierrez makes his fifth start of the season for the Flying Squirrels Games ....................................................... 1 and his second straight against the Curve. Last time out, he threw 4.1 innings and allowed two earned runs in a Record ................................................... 0-1 no-decision at PNG Field on Sunday. Gutierrez is in his first season with the Giants organization after spending the previous seven with the Detroit Tigers. Last year, he spent time at three levels and made seven starts for Batters 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 League Mid-Season All-Star. For more on Gutier- Batting Average ..................... .161 (5/31) rez, see page two. RISP ............................................. .125 (1/8) Runs/Runs Per Game ....................2/2.0 FOR ALTOONA: Right-hander Yeudy Garcia makes his second start of the season for the Curve. He made his first start on Sunday against the Flying Squirrels at PNG Field and threw 3.2 innings, allowing two earned runs Home Runs .............................................0 in a no-decision. In five relief appearances this season Garcia posted a 0.82 ERA. Sunday was Garcia’s first start since June 14, 2017, when he allowed five runs over 1.1 innings in a loss against Portland. He moved to the Pitchers bullpen following that start and had 2.78 ERA for the remainder of the year. Garcia made 37 relief appearances for Altoona in 2018. ERA ..............................6.00 (6 ER/9.0 IP) Starter W/L .......................................... 0-0 BATS ARE BACK: Over a six-game stretch from April 20-26, the Squirrels hit .126 (21/167) and scored five runs. Starter ERA .................3.00 (1 ER/3.0 IP) Over the last five games since, the Richmond offense has hit .267 (56/210) and scored 30 runs (5.0 runs per Reliever W/L ......................................... 0-1 game). Reliever ERA ............. 7.50 (5 ER/6.0 IP) POWER SURGE: Through April 14, the Flying Squirrels were one of just four teams in all of minor league base- Saves/Opps ........................................ 0/0 ball without a home run hit. Since April 15, the Richmond offense has combined for 21 homers, which has moved the team into third in the Eastern League in home runs. Over the last six games, the Flying Squirrels have hit 12 THIS DATE IN HISTORY homers. The team homered in a season-high five straight games from Saturday through Wednesday, including back-to-back three homer games on Sunday in Altoona and Monday in Bowie. On Wednesday at Bowie, the In 2010, the Flying Squirrels beat the Flying Squirrels matched a franchise record with four homers in a single game (Two by Jacob Heyward, one Altoona Curve, 9-5, with four late each by Brock Stassi and Chris Shaw). It was the first four-homer game for the Flying Squirrels since 2016. runs. Clay Timpner went 3-for-3 with SAY HEYWARD: After missing eight days with a quad strain, Jacob Heyward returned to the lineup on Wednes- three RBIs. Nick Noonan added a solo day and homered on the first pitch of the game. He added a two-run homer in his next at-bat and singled later in the game. Heyward hit a home run on April 22 before going on the injured list the next day. Over his last four homer as part of his three hits in the games played, Heyward is batting .367 (4-for-11) with three homers and four RBIs. game. Conor Gillaspie went 2-for- 4 with a double, two RBIs and a run ARENADO AWAKENS: After hitting .200 in 2018, Jonah Arenado is leading the Flying Squirrels with a .338 batting average on the season, which is ranked third in the Eastern League. Arenado has at least one hit in 17 scored. Brandon Crawford was 2-for- of his last 22 games. Against Altoona this year, Arenado is batting .474 (9-for-19) with a double, two homers and 3 in the game with a triple and scored five RBIs over seven games. three times. Timpner broke a 5-5 tie MILLER TIME: With his home run on Monday, Jalen Miller now has five homers on the season, which is tied for in the seventh with a two-run single. fifth in the Eastern League and leads the Flying Squirrels. Miller is also second in the Eastern League with six stolen bases. After hitting .375 through his first nine games of the season, Miller went 2-for-25 (.080) over an eight-game span from April 17-26. Over his next five games, Miller hit 6-for-20 (.300) with two homers, a double and three RBIs, but he went 0-for-4 on Friday. BROCK STAR: Through his first eight games of the season, Brock Stassi hit .300 through April 16, but he made just one start from April 17-26. In that stretch, Stassi went 1-for-7 (.143) with one walk. Over the last four starts, Stassi has gone 7-for-17 (.412) with two homers, two doubles and four RBIs.