Pitching Matchups; Game of the Day 7/18/11

11:00am
Connecticut Tigers (Brennan Smith 1-2, 2.77)
vs. Hudson Valley Renegades (Andrew Bellatti 0-3, 2.77)

12:00pm
Lowell Spinners (Luis Diaz 2-1, 3.24)
vs. Brooklyn Cyclones (Marcos Camarena 1-2, 2.66)

7:00pm
Binghamton Mets (Matt Harvey 0-2, 9.24)
vs. Portland Sea Dogs (Alex Wilson 8-4, 2.85)

7:05pm
Lehigh Valley Iron Pigs (N/A)
vs. Pawtucket Red Sox (Felix Doubront 1-3, 3.38)

Richmond Flying Squirrels (Eric Surkamp 7-3, 1.78)
vs. New Britain Rock Cats (Liam Hendriks 8-2, 2.70)

Reading Phillies (Austin Hyatt 7-5, 4.44)
vs. New Hampshire Fisher Cats (Joel Carreno 7-6, 3.32)

Aberdeen IronBirds (Parker Bridwell 2-3, 4.39)
vs. Vermont Lake Monsters (Kurt Wunderluch 0-3, 9.69)

Game of the Day – Flying Squirrels vs. Rock Cats – It’s a battle of two third place teams with identical 48-44 records, as the Richmond Flying Squirrels pull into New Britain for a three game set. Of course this series will be vital to both team’s hopes of getting full immersed in any playoff activity and to kick things off in the proper fashion tonight’s game will showcase two of the best pitchers in the and Eastern League. Richmond starts Eric Surkamp, whose lead leading 1.78 ERA is third best in all of Minor League Baseball. Surkamp also has the second best WHIP (1.11) in the Eastern League and his 114 strikeouts are third best in the league. He picked up his first win of the season against the Rock Cats back on May 2nd when he struck out 10 batters. New Britain counters with Liam Hendriks, who has the league's fourth best ERA (2.70) and third best WHIP (1.14). In 90 innings of work this season Hendriks has only allowed 18 walks and his two complete games are tied for most in the E.L. Surkamp's last loss came on June 3rd against Reading; Hendrik's last loss was back on May 19th versus Harrisburg…Richmond has a 16-27 record on the road this year, good enough for second worst in the E.L.; New Britain is 23-23 at home…Richmond has a league worst .236 team batting average and they have scored the fewest runs in the league with 363…New Britain’s Yangervis Solarte has hit safely in 9 of his last 10 games and is batting .441 in that stretch.

Check out all of the action live on MiLB Gameday Audio by clicking on the banner below: