Lehigh Valley, after a  4-3 week is at 48-50, in 4th place of the Northern Division of the IL, 8 games behind division leading Scranton with under 50 games to play.  They are 6.5 games out of the wild card spot.  ‘Pig league leaders include Andy Tracy who is 6th in runs (52), 5th in homers (15), 3rd in RBI’s (57), and 2nd in walks (48). Rich Thompson is 8th in stolen bases (18).  On the mound, Andrew Carpenter is tied for 3rd in winds (8), 9th in ERA (2.75) 10 th in WHIP (1.19), 10th in strikeouts (84) and 8th in innings (108).  Kyle Kendrick leads the league in starts (20) and IP (118), Carlos Carrasco is 3rd in the league in starts (19), 6th in IP (108.2), and leads the league in strikeouts (107). Carrasco is 7th in homers allowed (13), while Carpenter is 9th (12).

7/20/09–Lehigh Valley began an eight game road trip in Charlotte on Monday with a very disappointing 1-0, walk off loss, with Gary Majewski (0-5) failing to hold off the Knights in the ninth.  This thwarted yet another effort by Lehigh Valley to climb above .500.  Not a whole heck of alot to report in a game that remained 0-0 until the ninth, other than the six shutout innings thrown by Brian  Mazone and a multi hit effort by Jason Ellison.  Michael Taylor was 1-4 with a double.

7/21/09–The ‘Pigs were shutout for the second consecutive game, and this was an ugly one, 11-0 again to Charlotte.  The scheduled starter Kyle Kendrick was pulled at the Phillies request as the potential existed for a major league roster move, however that never occurred and the ‘Pigs were forced to start Sergio Escalona (0-2) who went just 2 innings, giving up 5 runs on 4 hits.  Again, nothing much to note offensively, other than mentioning Michael Taylor was 1-3.

07/22/09–A third straight loss by Lehigh Valley, this time 5-3 to Charlotte.  The ‘Pigs jumped out to a 2-0 behind RBI doubles by Miguel Cairo and Lou Marson in the 2nd inning, but that was quickly answered by Charlotte with a 4 run fourth inning off of Lehigh Valley starter Kyle Kendrick (6-6).  Kendrick went 7.1 innings, giving up 5 runs on 9 hits.  He didnt walk a batter and struck out two.  The ‘Pigs cut the lead to 4-3 on an RBI single by Mike Cervenak in the 8th, but Charlotte answered quickly again, with a run in the bottom of the inning to give them the 5-3 final margin of victory.  Terry Tiffee had 3 hits for the ‘Pigs, while Mike SPidale added 2 of his own, in his first start in quite some time.

7/23/09–Lehigh Valley salvaged a game in CHarlotte behind the bat of Michael Taylor and the pitching of Gustavo CHacin (5-3).  The ‘Pigs jumped to a 2-0 second inning lead on a Taylor RBI single, followed by a solo homer by Taylor in the fourth, maing it 3-0.  Chacin pitched very well, going 6 strong innings, giving up 2 runs on 6 hits.  He walked 3 and struck out 7. Lehigh Valley scored an insurance run in the seventh on a David Newhan RBI double, a run that they needed after Gary Majewski gave up a run making it 4-3.  Steven Register came on to pitch the end of the 8th and the 9th to earn his 5th save. Michael Taylor had his first AAA three hit game, while both Miguel Cairo and Mike Cervenak added two of their own.

‘Pig Prospects—Andrew Carpenter–Not much more can be said that hasn’t been said already about Carpenter, who is 8-2 with a 1.83 ERA in his last 11 starts, including this weeks seven inning effort against Rochester, in which he allowed just one earned run and struck out eight.  Carpenter’s pitching against Rochester was interesting to watch as he was struggling mightily early, throwing 55 pitches after just 2.1.  It was clear that he didnt have his best stuff after the All Star break.  He had gone 12 days without a start.  As the game moved along, Carpenter got stronger and stronger, making several hitters look silly late in the game on a split finger fastball.  On the year, 17 starts, 8-2 with a 2.75 ERA, 32BB 84K, 0.81 GO/AO, 1.19 WHIP, .244 opp avg (.229 with RISP)

Lou Marson has now hit safely in 17 of the last 19 games and remains hot with a 5-15 (.333) week, keeping his average above .300, now at .302 on the year.  He is at .302/.382/.379 with a homer and 22 RBI’s to go along with 3 SB’s and a 22% caught stealing rate.  Marson is back to where many believed he could be prior to this year.

Carlos Carrasco–A decent outing for Carrasco this week, going six innings and giving up 3 runs (2 homers), on 3 hits.  He didnt walk a batter and struck out 8, getting the win against Rochester.  As is fairly typical of Carrasco this year, he retired 7 of the first 8 batters he faced and took a shutout into the sixth inning, when two 2 out homers changed the complexion of his start.  He left with LV up 6-3.  On the year, Carrasco is 6-8 with a 4.97 ERA, 108.2 IP, 34 BB and 107K.  His WHIP is 1.36 and the opposition is hitting .265 against him (.337 with RISP).  Carrasco continues to have the best pure “stuff” on the pitching staff.  It is simply a matter of making the pitches with the ability he has.

Kyle Kendrick–An outing on Wednesday where Lehigh Valley desperately needed innings because of an over worked bullpen and Kendrick was able to give them that, lasting 7.1  innings and giving up 5 runs on 9 hits.  In his last 12 starts, which included 10 quality starts, Kendrick is 4-3 with a 2.83 ERA.  On the year, Kendrick is at 6-6 with 3.58 ERA in a league leading 118 innings.  He has walked 31, struck out 57, and has a WHIP of  1.20.  Opponents are hitting .244 against him (.178 with RISP).  I think Kendrick is the most likely name to be gone at the trading deadline, whether it be part of a deal for a pitcher or a right handed bat off the bench.  Again, while Kendrick is never overpowering, he has regained his confidence, at least at this level and has been pitching very consistently.  Kendrick is a hard worker who could have success in multiple ballparks based on his style of pitching as a 4-5 starter.

Michael Taylor–A week of adjustement for Taylor who showed both the “learning curve” and his very clear ability,  in a  up and down week that ended way up with a 3-4 effort.  Having never seen Taylor before this past week, he can be easily mistaken for an Eagles tight end with his height and physique.  He struggled at times at the plate, but surely showed significant power with a long opposite field home run and speed, moving around the bases with the ease that I haven’t seen in a man as big as Taylor.  On the week, Taylor was 8-28 (.286) with 2 homers and 4 RBI’s.  He walked 3 times and struck out 7 times in his 28 AB’s.

 Transactions:   Sergio Escalona, who has struggled mightily as of late was sent back down to AA Reading   Escalona is 0-2 with a 5.95 ERA in his 15 games as an IronPig, and has given up multiple runs in his last two appearancees.

Andrew Carpenter was called up to the Phils, in light of multiple injuries in their bullpen.  Called up to fill one of the roster voids left in Lehigh Valley is Pat Overholt.  Overholt, 25, is being called up to the ‘Pigs for the second time this year, and was 0-0 with a 2.70 ERA in his first trip up.  The big RHP was 0-0 in 32 games for Reading this yearwith a 3.89 ERA in 41.2 innings of work.  His control has been a bit of an issue, walking 24 while striking out 32.  The opposition was hitting .232 against him in AA.