It was an up and down night for the affiliates: two wins, two losses. Down in Lakewood, a group of future Phillies walked off some future Mets, let us hope they someday celebrate the same sort of victory in Citizens Bank Park.
Lehigh Valley 3, Indianapolis 1
This one started off looking like it’d be a thriller: the Indians scored in the first on a double steal of second and home, and how often do you see that? But that was the most excitement Indianapolis had; they failed to score another run for the duration.
The IronPigs struggled to score too, being shut out in eight of nine innings. But in the sixth they plated three, and so walked away as winners, They had only four hits on the night, and no IronPig had more than one, though three of those hits were doubles. Chuck King had the start for the good guys, and pitched eight innings, with five hits and five Ks; Grant Holman slammed the door in the ninth.
Harrisburg 10, Reading 0
The Fightin Phils had a night to forget as the Senators rode a seven-run second to an eventual 10-0 victory. Reading starter Luke Russo allowed five hits, three of them homers, in 1.2 innings of work, and seven runs, thanks in part to a pair of throwing errors from Bryan Rincon. A quartet of relievers steadied the ship, but the hole was deep, and the offense found itself too defused by the Harrisburg hurlers to mount a comeback. Six Phils had hits, though none more than one, and only one of those hits went for extra bases.
Jersey Shore 6, Brooklyn 5
Not every drama ends in fitting fashion. Sometimes a tense duel ends with a sudden foray into farce. So it was in ShoreTown Ballpark, as the BlueClaws and Cyclones battled across 12 evenly matched innings before a shallow fly ball from the bat of Trent Farquhar fell perfectly in between a pair of befuddled Brooklynites, turning what should’ve been the final out of the twelfth into a walk-off. It wasn’t an explosive night for the Jersey Shore offense, with only six hits. But they were productive in a quieter sense, working 11 walks. BlueClaw starter Mavis Graves went four innings with two hits, one run, one walk, and five Ks. Jake Eddington got the win with two innings of 1 hit ball.
Daytona 5, Clearwater 2
The Threshers didn’t score until late, plating one run in the seventh, and another in the ninth. By then it was too late, with the Tortugas having assembled all the runs they needed to win by the sixth. Robert Phelps led the Threshers with a pair of hits, both doubles. Starter Brad Pacheco went five innings, with five hits, two runs, and four strikeouts.
