A second consecutive winning week for Lehigh Valley as they went 5-2, and are now in fourth place of the Northern Division of the International League, chipping away at the lead of the division leading Yankees which now stands at 8 games.  In hitting categories, Andy Tracy is 8th in runs (42), leads the league in walks (37), 2nd in homers (13) and 2nd in RBI’s(51), Rich Thompson is 8th in triples (3) and 8th in stolen bases (14). Mike Cervenak is 7th in average (.313).  On the pitching side, Andrew Carpenter is 6th in wins (6) , 5th in homers allowed (11)and 7th in IP (80.1), Carlos Carrasco is 8th in IP (79.2) and 5th in strikeouts (77).

  6/22/09–A rain shortened, 6 inning,  11-1 rout of Norfolk in the final game of a very successful road trip for Lehigh Valley.  Kyle Kendrick started, but exited after just 0.1 innings (1 run) because of the rain.  When the game began again, Francisco Butto (2-1) was on the hill and pitched well in his 2.2 innings.  The Pigs took the lead in the third on a JJ Furmaniak (3) solo homer, and a Mikke Cervenak RBI single.  By the end of the 4th, Lehigh Valley was ahead 9-1, on the strength of a Jason Ellison (3) grand slam, and RBI singles by JJ Furmaniak , Mike SPidale and Lou Marson.  Multi Hit games for Rich Thompson  (2-3, 2b, 2 runs), Mike Cervenak (2-3,r,2b,rbi), David Newhan (2-3,r), JJ Furmaniak (2-3,2r,hr,2rbi),  and Mike Spidale (2-3,r,rbi)

6/23/09–AFter a bus ride that had the ‘Pigs arriving back in Allentown at 5:45 a.m., Rodrigo Lopez took the mound against Indianapolis for the beginning of an 11 game homestand and pitched very well.  He went 7 innings giving up 2 runs (none earned) on 4 hits. He walked one and struck out 7.  Indianapolis scored a first inning run, which Lehigh Valley quickly answered with two runs in the 3rd inning when a JJ Furmaniak sac fly scored Lou Marson and the Indianapolis defense fell apart, committing two errors on the same Jason Ellison grounder (fielding and throwing) allowing Rich Thompson to score. The ‘Pigs added another run in the 4th, making it 3-1 on a Miguel Cairo RBI single.  After an Indianapolis run cut the lead to 3-2, Andy Tracy (13) homered in the sixth and Lehigh Valley added two more in the seventh on a Rich Thompson RBI single and Mike Cervenak sac flyto make the lead 6-2. After Gary Majewski gave up a run in an ineffective 8th inning, Cedric Bowers nailed down the win with his 2nd save of the year for Lehigh Valley.

6/24/09-Gustavo Chacin (2-2) experienced his first real rough outing in a Lehigh Valley uniform lasting just five innings and giving up four runs on nine hits in the Lehigh Valley 4-1 loss.  Indianapolis put up two spots in both the second and third innings.  It was the seventh inning before the ‘Pigs could bounce back for a lone run on a JJ Furmaniak RBI single. Brad Lincoln, the #4 pick in the 2006 draft got his first AAA start for Indianapolis and pretty much stymied the ‘Pig offense, giving up just one run in 6.2 innings of work.

6/25/09–Kyle Kendrick was back on short rest on Thursday after going just 0.1 inning Monday night, due to a rain delay.  Lehigh Valley jumped out early with a three run first, the key hit being a 2 run double by Miguel Cairo and added another on a David Newhan RBI single in the third.  Indianapolis bounced back with 2 runs in thee fourth and 2 runs in the sixth (both on solo homeruns) to tie the game at 4 after six.  Kendrick left the game having gone six innings, giving up 4 runs on 5 hits.  He walked three and struck out three.  Lehigh Valley, again took the lead in the 8th on a bases loaded RBI single by Lou Marson making the score 5-4.  Jake Woods (4-1) pitched a scoreless eighth and got the win for Lehigh Valley. Steve Register came in to pick up his 2nd save by pitching a scoreless ninth. Andy Tracy had a big game for Lehigh Valley going 2-4 with 3 runs scored, while both Miguel Cairo and Lou Marson had two hits and key RBI’s for the ‘Pigs in their 5-4 victory.

 ‘Pig Prospects–Another abriged version of the prospect report with both injury (Donald) and major league recalls (Escalona and Mayberry) making my job easier.

Lou Marson–An excellent  week for Marson hitting, as he went 8-21(.381) with 5 runs scored and 6 RBI’s.  On the year in his 133 AB’s, Marson is at .256/.340/.338.  He has 1 HR and 14 RBI and is hitting .289 with RISP, an important stat that has improved drastically.  Behind the plate, Marson struggled during the beginning part of the week, allowing five steals during the game when Carlos Carrasco was on the hill, but bounced back to throw a runner out with one down in the ninth during Thursdays’ game to help ice the Iron Pig win on Thursday.

Kyle Kendrick–A strange week for Kendrick as he threw 7 pitches on Monday, and then his night was done due to a rain delay, and came back on two days rest to start Thursday against Indianapolis. Kendrick started off strong against the Indians, but seemed rattled after getting squeezed several times by the ump.  During the sixth, in which, Kendrick gave up two homers, catcher Lou Marson and pitching coach Rod Nichols made multiple trips to the mound to settle him down.  On the year, Kendrick is 4-4 with a 3.97ERA.   In his 79.1 innings, Kendrick has walked 26 and struck out 46.

Carlos Carrasco–A very good start for Carrasco this week against Norfolk, as he gave up only a run on five hits over seven innings. After two previous outings which were mediocre, Carrasco looked strong on the mound in this one, mixing his pitches well, with hitters looking off balance.  On the year, 3-7, 5.20 ERA, 79.2 IP, 22 BB 77K, 1.35 WHIP, .270 opp avg. (.329 with RISP).

Andrew Carpenter–A decent outing for Carpenter this week, although he took his first loss of the season against Norfolk.  He went six innings and gave up three runs for another quality start.  Carpenter has thrown at least 5 innings in each of his 14 starts.  He ERA remains right around 3.00 and the team is 9-4 in games he has started.

Transactions:  Catcher Orlando Guevara was sent down to (A) Clearwater, after backing up Paul Hoover for the week Lou Marson was on the DL.  Taking Guevara’s roster spot is 3B Terry Tiffee. The 30 year old Tiffee was expected to be an integral piece to the Lehigh Valley team this year, but has missed estensive time (all season thus far) with back problems.  He hit .378 in the Pacific Coast League last yearwith 9 HR and 69 RBI.  With all the injuries and roster issues the ‘Pigs have faced this year, Tiffee should give them some much needed offense and depth, along with stability of the left side on the infield.

Sergio Escalona returned to Lehigh Valley after the activation of Brad Lidge in Philadelphia.   Escalona pitched in one game, throwing a scoreless inning during this trip up tp Philly.  On the year for the Phils, Escalona is 1-0 with a 3.38 ERA.

Notes: Andy Tracy won the International League Batter of the Week for the week ending June 21, 2009. Tracy hit .381 with 2 HR and 10 RBI and 9 runs scored.  He had six extra base hits on the week.

—Cedric Bowers has now allowed just one run in his last 14 appearances (0.47ERA).