Richmond Flying Squirrels | 3001 N Arthur Ashe Blvd., Richmond, VA 23230 | 804-359-3866 | SquirrelsBaseball.com | @GoSquirrels Richmond Flying Squirrels (24-20) vs. Hartford Yard Goats (13-31) RHP Trenton Toplikar (1-2, 4.24) vs. RHP Frank Duncan (1-3, 2.97) Thursday, June 24, 2021 | Game #45 | Road Game #21 7:05 p.m. | Dunkin Donuts Park | Hartford, Conn. Radio: Sports Radio 910 The Fan & 105.1 FM | TV: MiLB.TV UPCOMING GAMES & PROBABLE PITCHERS Fri., June 25 at Hartford 7:05 p.m. RHP Akeel Morris (1-0, 3.60) vs. Karl Kauffmann (0-5, 7.50) Sat., June 26 at Hartford 6:05 p.m. LHP Michael Plassmeyer (2-3, 4.81) vs. RHP Garrett Schilling (1-4, 4.81) Sun., June 27 at Hartford 1:05 p.m. RHP Caleb Kilian (2-0, 2.17) vs. RHP David Hill (0-1, 6.75) Mon., June 28 OFF DAY YESTERDAY: The Flying Squirrels beat the Hartford Yard Goats, 5-4. The Yard Goats jumped out to a 3-0 lead in the first inning, scoring all three runs with two outs. Coco Montes drove a two-run double and Elehuris Montero followed with a two-run homer. 2021 FLYING SQUIRRELS They were the only runs allowed by Richmond starter Phil Pfeifer in his 4.0 innings. Richmond broke onto the scoreboard in the Overall Record ............................. 24-20 fifth with a bases-loaded walk byAndy Sugilio. With the bases loaded, Hartford starting pitcher Ryan Feltner got Heliot Ramos to bounce into a double play to prevent any further runs from scoring in the inning. In the sixth, Sandro Fabian brought home First Half ......................................... 24-20 a second run for the Flying Squirrels with a single to close the gap to one. Vince Fernandez tied the game with a sac fly in the Home ...................................................13-11 seventh as a pinch-hitter. In the eighth, Bruce Maxwell gave Richmond the lead with an RBI single. Frankie Tostado extended the lead to 5-3 with an RBI single later in the inning. With two outs in the ninth, Max George hit a solo homer to bring the Yard Road .....................................................11-9 Goats within a run, but Joey Marciano picked up a strikeout to close out his second save of the season. Flying Squirrels reliev- Place (AA-NE Southwest) .......5th/-4.0 ers Ronnie Williams, Frank Rubio and Jose Marte combined for 4.0 scoreless innings. Streak ................................................... W2 TODAY’S GAME: The Flying Squirrels play the third of a six-game series against the Hartford Yard Goats, Double-A affiliate of Last 5 .................................................... 3-2 the Colorado Rockies. This series marks Richmond’s only trip to Dunkin Donuts Park this season and the final series between the two teams. The Flying Squirrels opened the season against the Yard Goats at The Diamond from May 4-9. In that series, Last 10 .................................................. 4-6 the Yard Goats took a victory in the season opener on May 4, but the Flying Squirrels won the next five games by a combined score of 33-17. HOME ATTENDANCE INFO THE FLYING SQUIRRELS have won three of the last four games. They are in fifth place in the six-team Double-A Northeast Southwest Division, 4.0 games behind first-place Bowie. For the season, the Richmond offense is ranked ninth in the league 2021 Home Attendance ............... 84,483 with a .232 batting average. The pitching staff is ranked fourth in the league with a 3.62 ERA for the season. Home Openings ..................................22 THE YARD GOATS have lost five straight games after winning their previous four games. They currently sit in sixth place in the Average Attendance ...................3,840 Double-A Northeast’s Northeast Division, 15.5 games behind first-place Somerset. The Yard Goats batters are ranked tenth in the Double-A Northeast with a .222 batting average. The Hartford pitching staff is ranked last in the circuit with a 5.78 ERA. Hartford’s roster includes five of MLB.com’s top-30 Rockies prospects, including 3B Elehuis Montero (9), OF Jameson Hannah (13), RHP Karl Kauffmann (17), RHP Tommy Doyle (21) and RHP Ryan Feltner (22). RICHMOND vs. HARTFORD 2021 vs. Hartford ................................7-1 FOR RICHMOND: Right-hander Trenton Toplikar makes his sixth start of the season. Last time out, Toplikar picked up his sec- ond loss of the year after allowing career highs in runs (8) and hits (10) at Somerset on Friday. In his previous two starts, Toplikar at Richmond ................................... 5-1 went 1-0 with a 1.39 ERA (2 ER/13.0 IP), both against Harrisburg. He has pitched in relief four times this season, posting a 0.96 at Hartford ...................................... 2-0 ERA. Toplikar was drafted in the 16th round by the Giants in 2018 out of UC Riverside. 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 All-Time vs. Hartford ...................34-27 on June 12 of that season and worked as a starter the rest of the year, going 5-2 with a 3.62 ERA in ten starts. For more on at Richmond ............................... 21-12 Toplikar, see page two. at Hartford ..................................13-15* FOR HARTFORD: Right-hander Frank Duncan makes his eighth start of the season. In his most recent start on Friday at New Hampshire, Duncan pitched his longest outing the season to date, firing seven scoreless innings with no walks and a sea- son-high eight strikeouts. Over his last five starts, Duncan has gone 1-2 with a 1.93 ERA (6 ER/28.0 IP). Duncan signed as a free agent with the Colorado Rockies on May 5, his second stint with the organization. He was originally drafted by the Pittsburgh ON THE ROAD TRIP Pirates in the 13th round in 2014 out of Kansas University. With Pittsburgh, he reached as high as Triple-A in 2016, where he was Games ...................................................... 8 named an International League Mid-Season All-Star. Prior to the 2017 season, Duncan was traded by the Pirates to the Arizona Diamondbacks for Phil Gosselin. He was released the following year after spring training and signed with the Los Angeles Record .................................................. 3-5 Dodgers, playing in their system through May before being released and signing with the Rockies. He pitched for Hartford in 2018, going 3-4 with a 4.84 ERA in 16 games (10 starts) before being released at the end of spring training in 2019. Duncan pitched for the independent Sussex County Miners of the Can-Am Association in 2019 and spent 2020 with the independent Batters Winnipeg Goldeyes of the American Association. Batting Average .............. .212 (58/274) GETTING THEIR GOAT: The Flying Squirrels have won seven consecutive games against the Yard Goats dating back to May RISP ....................................... .244 (19/78) 5. In that stretch, Richmond has outscored Hartford, 45-22. That stretch is the longest win streak the Flying Squirrels have ever Runs/Runs Per Game ................. 36/4.5 posted against the Yard Goats, topping a four-game win streak from Aug. 18, 2018-April 6, 2019. It is also the longest win streak for either team in the history of their head-to-head match-ups. Home Runs ..............................................7 TOASTY: Over his last 13 games since June 6, Frankie Tostado is batting .294 (15-for-51) with one homer and 12 RBIs. He is now second on the team this season with 22 RBIs. He is now second among qualified Richmond batters with a .264 batting Pitchers average on the year. ERA ...........................4.93 (38 ER/69.1 IP) FABULOUS FABIAN: Over his last 15 games since June 1, Sando Fabian is batting .341 (15-for-44) with one homer, five doubles Starter W/L .......................................... 2-3 and 10 RBIs while scoring four runs. Fabian hit .184 through his first 18 games of the season, but his performance since June 1 has raised his season average to .260. Starter ERA ............5.50 (23 ER/37.2 IP) Reliever W/L ......................................... 1-2 TORRES ON A TEAR: In his last nine games since June 1, Bryan Torres is batting .333 (7-for-21) 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 ........... 3.98 (14 ER/31.2 IP) 2021, he had not played higher than the rookie level. Saves/Opps ..........................................1/3 MO’ TIME: Over his last 10 games since June 5, Kyle Mottice is batting .303 (10-for-33) with a double and four RBIs. On the season, he is batting .371 (13-for-35) against left-handed pitchers compared to .209 (14-for-67) against right-handers. He has hit THIS DATE IN HISTORY the ball to the opposite field on 46 percent of his balls put in play, which is the second-highest rate in the Double-A Northeast behind Erie’s John Valente (46.2 percent). In 2013, the Flying Squirrels blanked the Bowie Baysox, 8-0. Taylor Rogers BREAKING OUT: After going 0-for-14 over four games from June 10-15, David Villar has hit .482 (13-for-27) with three homers and seven RBIs over his last seven games since June 16. He picked up three hits last Wednesday night, tying a season high, and worked 8.0 scoreless innings, allow- added a solo homer June 17. He went deep again on Friday. In the series opener at Hartford on Tuesday, Villar hit his team-lead- ing three hits with eight strikeouts.