Another tough night for the Phillies’ minor league teams, with Clearwater the only team able to emerge victorious. There were plenty of shaky pitching performances across the board, and a demotion to the minors has seemingly not cured whatever ails Tanner Banks.
Syracuse 5, Lehigh Valley 4
Things started off well for the IronPigs on Wednesday. They scored three early runs thanks in part to a Dylan Moore RBI double, and starting pitcher Brian Keller was dealing, pitching six shutout innings.
But things fell apart after Keller left the game. The Pigs turned to three relievers who have spent time with the big league team, and all three gave up runs. Michael Mercado gave up one in the seventh, Tanner Banks was knocked around for three in the eighth, and Max Lazar gave up another in the ninth.
The Pigs fought back and scored one run in the ninth, but their rally fell short.
Altoona 8, Reading 4
The Fightin’ Phils’ pitching staff had a rough night on Wednesday. Gage Wood got the start, and while he struck out four in 3.2 innings, he also gave up two hits and walked two, allowing the Curve to score two runs. The pitchers after him didn’t fare much better. Kyle Brnovich gave up two runs (one earned) in his 2.1 innings, while Saul Teran was rocked for two home runs in his one inning of work.
Offensively, Pedro Leon had a four hit game, but that wasn’t nearly enough to overcome the struggles of the pitchers.
Brooklyn 12, Jersey Shore 2
Reading’s pitchers were bad, but the BlueClaws’ staff was even worse, giving up 12 runs to the Cyclones. Starting pitcher Mavis Graves actually held the Cyclone scoreless over the first three innings before falling apart in the fourth. Eight of the nine hitters he faced in that frame reached base as the Cyclones scored six runs. Ryan Dromboski similarly struggled in relief, serving up two home run balls en route to a two inning/six run line.
There weren’t many offensive highlights for the Claws either as they struck out ten times and only recorded three hits.
Clearwater 5, Jupiter 0
The Threshers salvaged the day for the Phillies’ affiliates by beating the Hammerheads 5-0. Matthew Fisher got the start and scattered three hits across four innings. Cole Gilley struck out four in his three innings, and Luis Avila and Tegan Cain each chipped in a scoreless inning to finish off the shutout.
It wasn’t a huge offensive output for the Threshers, as they largely took advantage of some shaky Hammerhead defense. But Griffin Burkholder hit his sixth home run of the year in the first inning to give Clearwater a lead they would not relinquish.
