A 3-4 week for Lehigh Valley, who are now 11-15, in 4th place of the Northern Division in the International League, 5.0 games behind division leading Buffalo.

League Leaders (thru Wednesday):Hitters: Mayberry is tied for 6th in runs (19), and tied for 4th in doubles (8); Wise is leading the league in triples (4); Ransom is tied for 3rd in homers (6), 8th in RBI’s (19) and 6th in strikeouts (28); Tracy is 7th in walks (16).

Pitching: Bump is tied for 6th in wins (3); Carpenter is tied for 6th in wins (3); Mathieson is tied for 6th in saves (4).

Week In Review:

Monday–The ‘Pigs series against Indianapolis continued Monday with both teams struggling to score with runners in scoring position early, however, the Indians busted the game open in the 5th, when a 2 run double by Pedro Alvarez gave Indianapolis a 2-0 lead off starter Joe Savery(0-2). A long solo blast literally out of the stadium by Brandon Jones, extended the lead to 3-0 in the 6th.  Savery’s night was done after six, having given up 3 runs on 7 hits.  He walked 2 and struck out 2. A brutal 7th inning where Ehren Wasserman walked the first batter, balked him to second, wild pitched him to third, and then threw a ball into left field attempting to pick him off of third which created the last Indians run in the 4-1 loss.  Brandon Duckworth pitched 1.1 scoreless in relief, striking out 3.

Tuesday–A morning game to close out the series against Indianapolis and a well pitched game by Andrew Carpenter and a three run  homer by Cody Ransom (6) was all Lehigh Valley needed in the 3-1 victory, giving them a series split. Carpenter (3-2) went six innings, giving up just a run on 3 hits.  He walked 3 and struck out 5.  Scott Mathieson picked up his 4th save of the year, pitching a scoreless ninth. Mike Zagurski has an impressive day as well, striking out the side while pitching the 7th inning. Luis Maza was 2-4 with a run scored, while Paul Hoover was a homer short of the cycle, going 3-3 with a single, double, and triple.

Wednesday-Off

Thursday–Columbus came into Allentown to open a four game series, with Lehigh Valley welcoming back Jason Donald and Carlos Carrasco, in Clippers uniforms. The wind was blowing out at Coca Cola Park and it showed with several long homers.  John Mayberry opened the scoring in the first with his 4th homer, a solo shot. but the CLippers scored two in the top of the second to take a 2-1 lead. A solo homer by Chris Duffy (2), tied the game at two in the bottom of the 3rd.  A two run fourth inning by Columbus gave them a two run lead, with Brian Mazone struggling on the hill.  ANother homer by Chris Duffy (3), cut the lead to 4-3, however the CLippers came back once again with back to back doubles to extend the lead back to two. Columbus tacked on four more in the 6th, effectively turning the game into a blowout.  Brian Mazone left having gone 5.0 innings, yielding 6 runs on 7 hits.  He walked two and struck out 3. Cody Ransom hit his 7th homer of the year, a two run shot to make the game somewhat respectable, a 10-5 final. Duffy, Tracy, Wise and Maza all had 2 hits for the ‘Pigs.  Lehigh Valley pitchers walked 8 batters on the evening.

‘Pigs Prospects–Scott Mathieson started the season with 7 scoreless innings and has allowed just one run in his first ten outings.  He is 4/4 in save opportunities and again looked impressive, earning the save in the game on Tuesday.  Both his ERA and WHIP remain below 1, and he is striking out a hitter an inning.

Joe Savery–Looked like Joe Savery. Leadoff hitters were on base during the first two innings, with Savery pitching out of jams in both.  Fastball hovering around 88 mph. His outing was again average at best, going six innings, giving up 3 runs on 8 hits.  He walked 2 and struck out two.  Savery was working in and out of jams all evening and his line could have been easily worse.  On the year, 4 starts, 0-2 , 21IP, 27H 13ER 11BB 11K; 5.57 ERA; 1.80 WHIP.

Andrew Carpenter is getting back on track after a second consecutive good start on Tuesday. Over his last two outings, he has given up just 1 earned run in 11 innings, while striking out 8.  On the year: 3-2 with a 4.03 ERA. 22.1 IP 24H 10ER 11BB 11K; 1.57 WHIP; .192 opp. avg. with RISP.

John Mayberry, Jr.–Another nice week for Mayberry, who went 7-20 (.350) on the week, with a homer and 3 RBI’s.  Mayberry ran into some difficulty in CF, misjudging a fly ball or two, but he has generally looked pretty comfortable in center.

Antonio Bastardo made his first appearance in Lehigh Valley on Monday evening and pitched well, going a scoreless, hitless inning, striking out two. He followed that up by striking out the lone batter he faced on Tuesday.  I am an advocate of Bastardo being up in Philly.  With Romero questionable and Madson out,  it is difficult to continue to stash a Rule 5 guy on your roster the entire season.  With dominance at the AAA level, Bastardo may give the Phils little choice.

Transactions: With Antonio Bastardo’s arrival in Lehigh Valley from Philadelphia, relief pitcher Jason Anderson was sent down to AA Reading to make room on the roster.  Anderson was 0-1 with a 4.35 ERA and one save in his 9 appearances thus far for Lehigh Valley.  Anderson is used to the shuttle between Reading and Lehigh Valley, having done it numerous times over the last two seasons.

Notes: Paul Hoover has thrown out 43% of runners attempting to steal on him.

—DeWayne Wise returned to the lineup on Thursday, starting in LF, after missing several games with a groin injury.

—Chris Duffy also returned to the lineup Thursday, at DH, after missing several games with a concussion. He hit two homers in his return to the lineup.

–The early season struggles of Andy Tracy, the ‘Pigs cleanup hitter continue with an average that is just above .200

–Cody Ransom has hit safely in 12 of his last 13 games.

Probables: Friday: Vogelsong; Saturday: Bump; Sunday: Savery