On Saturday, everyone in the Phillies organization won their game, major and minor leagues. Sunday, the complete opposite happened.
Scranton 6, Lehigh Valley 5
If the theme of Saturday’s games was that all the teams in the minor leagues had good pitching, then Sunday’s theme was that everyone had bad pitching, starting in Scranton. Felix Reyes and Otto Kemp both homering weren’t enough to offset Drake Fellows’ outing where he allowed four runs on six hits, including a home run allowed, that set the IronPigs
back in this one.
Turns out, you don’t have to love the Drake.
Kyle Backhus secured a single out via the strikeout as he continues working his way back towards a possible major league recall once his rehab is complete.
Portland 9, Reading 3
Speaking of lousy pitching, Kyle Brnovich was bad in his start for Reading, letting the Portland Sea Dogs score seven runs in 4 2/3 innings pitched, an outing that wasted a home run from Alex Binelas.
Seeing some of the team’s top hitting prospects struggle, like Aroon Escobar currently is in Reading, is not going to help this team much come trade deadline time. Surface level numbers are one thing, but by a lot of reports, Escobar just doesn’t look good all the way around.
Hudson Valley 6, Jersey Shore 3
Brandon Beckel and Giuseppe Velasquez combined to allow five runs in six innings for Jersey Shore, more than enough to not help an offense that really only got a good day from Devin Saltiban. Saltiban went two for three with a double and an RBI. Brock Vrandenburg hit a two-run home run as well for the Threshers, but their plans to win were scuttled by the continued bad pitching that permeated all levels of the Phillies’ minor league organization. Speaking of which…
Lakeland 9, Clearwater 3
Hey look, more bad pitching! This time, it’s Sean Youngerman that struggled, allowing three runs in his three innings of work, followed by Peyton Havard allowing four runs in his inning of relief, giving Lakeland a victory on the day. On offense, the name to continue to watch is Juan Villavicencio, who went two for four with a double and two runs scored.
