A good week for the Iron Pigs as they went 5-2 on the road to move their record to 48-65, 20.5 games behind division leading Pawtucket in the Northern Division of the International League.  Our weekly look at league leaders include Mike Cervenak who is 3rd in the league in hits (124) and leading the league in average (.320).  Brandon Watson is 9th in the league in average (.296) and 5th in the league in hits (115).  1B Andy Tracy is 3rd in the league in doubles (27), 3rd in the league in RBI’s (72), 4th in the league in walks(54), and 6th in the league in OBP(.379). Les Walrond leads the league in ERA (2.61.  JA Happ is 7th in ERA (3.30), leads the league in strikeouts (127), and is 4th in WHIP (1.18).  Brian Mazone is 6th in WHIP (1.19), 5th in homers allowed(17), 3rd in IP(134), and 3rd in starts (22).  Matt Childers is 3rd in the league with 18 saves.

The ‘Pigs began a road trip in RIchmond last Friday with an exciting 6-5 come from behind victory.  Brian Mazone started and struggled going 5.1 innings, giving up 3 runs on 8 hits.  He walked 2 and struck out 6.  Lehigh Valley was behind 3-1, before a four run 7th inning gave them the lead.  Three consecutive RBI doubles were the key to the inning.  Brandon Watson led the offense going 4-5 with 2 runs scored and 3 RBI’s.  Mike Cervenak was 2-4 with an RBI and Andy Tracy was 2-5 with an RBI.  RJ Swindle picked up the win in relief and Matt Childers earned his 17th save of the year.

Kris Benson struggled early last Saturday evening and then came around to pitch a decent game in the 4-1 Lehigh Valley loss to Richmond. Benson gave up runs in the first 3 innings but his line ended at 7 IP, 10 H, 4R (3ER), 2BB, 6K.  He threw 89 pitches, 60 for strikes.  The ‘Pigs were unable to climb out of the 3-0 hole, scoring a lone run on a Andy Tracy RBI single. Tracy was the lone offensive notable going 2-4 for the ‘Pigs.

The game against Richmond on Sunday was probably the craziest game Lehigh Valley played all year.  JA Happ was pulled after 2.2 scoreless innings with teammates congratulating him in the dugout(leading to speculation that he was either called up or traded).  he left with the ‘Pigs ahead 3-0, but that lead was promptly given back in the 4th, with Richmond tying the game 3-3. The ‘Pigs scored 2 more in the 7th to go up 5-3, but the Braves bounced back again with 1 each in the 8th and 9th, sending the game into extra innings.  The ‘Pigs scored 3 in the 10th which the Braves matched, leaving the score at 8-8 after 10 innings. Two more scoreless innings were played before Lehigh Valley plated a run to go ahead 9-8 in the 13th at which time the game was suspended.  Got all that?  The game continued on Monday with Jason Anderson (who was not even a member of Lehigh Valley when the game started) getting the last 2 outs for his first save of the year. Notables for Lehigh Valley were:  Mike Cervenak (3-6, run, RBI), Jon Knott (4-6, homer(15), 3 RBI’s), Jason jaramillo (3-7, run, RBI), Rich THompson (3-4, run, rbi, sb) . Matt Childers blew the save in the 9th and Stephen Randolph did the same in the 10th inning. John Ennis pitched 2.1 scoreless innings to get the win in relief.

The ‘Pigs received a well pitched game from Travis Blackley who went 6 innings and gave up 2 runs on 5 hits, while walking 1 and striking out 6, in the 4-2 ‘Pigs win on Monday night.  The game was tied 2-2 until the 9th inning when a costly error by Richmond and an RBI single by Brandon Watson led to the Iron Pigs runs.  Jason Anderson (3-1) picked up the win in relief with Matt Childers earning his 18th save. Oscar Robles was 2-4 with a run scored pacng the offense.

The ‘Pigs opened a series against Norfolf on Tuesday with their third straight win in a decisive 7-1 victory.  Les Walrond (5-6) was outstanding yet again going 8 innings and giving up a lone unearned run on five hits.  He walked one and struck out 6.  The ‘Pigs had 13 hits including 4 by Rich Thompson who led the torrid hitting.  Jason Jaramillo was 3-5 with a run and 2 RBI’s.  Mike Rouse had 2 hits and TJ Bohn hit his 4th homer to add to the offensive onslaught.

Brian Mazone(9-8) was back to his old self on Wednesday throwing 7 innings and giving up only a run on the way to a 5-4 victory for Lehigh Valley over Norfolf, their 4th straight win.  The ‘Pigs took an early lead on a Jon Knott homer (16), who added two more hits as well.  Joey Hammond and Jason Jaramillo each had two hits, and although the bullpen was rocky, Stephen Randolph earned his 2nd save of the year.

A second consecutive good effort by Kris Benson was wasted as control problems by Joe Bisenius did in the ‘Pigs in a 2-1 loss to Norfolk.  Benson went 7 solid innings and gave up only one run on five hits.  He walked 2 and struck out 2.  Two walks by Bisenius followed by a single by Tike Redman led to the 9th inning loss. The only ‘Pigs run came on an Andy Tracy sacrifice fly.  Lehigh Valley managed only three hits on the day.

Roster Moves: Both RJ Swindle and Steve Green were placed on “Reserve” so they could play in the Olympics.  Replacing them on the roster are Jason Anderson and JD Durbin.  Anderson, 29, has been up and down between Lehigh Valley and Reading all year.  For Reading, he was 0-1 with a 6.20 ERA in 17 appearances.  Previousley for the ‘Pigs, Anderson pitched fairly well going 2-1 with a 3.20 ERA in 17 games.  He had struck out 18 and walked only 6, and his WHIP was 1.22.  Durbin, 26, was absolutely horrific earlier this year for Lehigh Valley going 0-5 with a 9.82 ERA in 9 games (5 starts).  He settled down with Reading going 5-4 with a 3.38 ERA in 13 starts.  He walked 34 and struck out 49 in 80 innings.

Catcher John Suomi, 27, was sent down to Reading to catch every day in the absence of Lou Marson (Olympics),  Suomi hit .253 for the ‘Pigs in 22 games with one HR and 9 RBI’s.  Called up to Lehigh Valley was Orlando Guevara, 24, from Reading.  I would expect him to see very little playing time for Lehigh Valley, possibly Sundays. Guevara had 38 AB’s between Clearwater and Reading this year and was hitting .158 with 3 RBI’s.

After the being the subject of much speculation JA Happ was recalled to Philadelphia on Tuesday afternoon.  Happ has been excellent since a rocky start to the year in Lehigh Valley.  Happ, 25, is currently 7-6 with a 3.30 ERA in 19 starts.  He has pitched 117.1 innings, given up 97 hits, walked 41 and struck out 127.  Opponents are batting only .227 against him. In his 2 starts with the Phillies he was 0-0 with a 3.27 ERA.

Late Tuesday, the Phillies placed Pedro Feliz on the 15 day DL with a bad back and recalled Mike Cervenak to take his place on the 25 man roster.  It is the second time this year Cervenak has been recalled.  Cervenak was sent back to Lehigh Valley on July 9th and since that date has hit .444 for the ‘Pigs and currently has a 14 game hitting streak. On the year, Cervenak, 31, is hitting .320 with 7HR and 56 RBI to go along with 5 SB.  His OPS is .786 and he is hitting .301 with RISP. Lehigh Valley activated OF Chris Snelling from the DL to take Cervenak’s roster spot.  Snelling has hit .283 in 16 games in an injury plagued year for him.

Notes: Les Walrond has now gone 29.0 innings without yiedling an earned run.  His ERA has dropped to 2.63 since the streak began.

–TJ Bohn now has 7 outfield assists.

–Pitcher Jason Anderson is 3-0 with a save and a 1.88 ERA in his last 7 appearances.

–Lehigh Valley have now won or spilt 19 of the last 22 series.

–As Jason Jaramillo’s batting average continues to rise, his numbers on runners thrown out stealing continue to dwindle.  He is now at 18/88 (20.5%).