Lehigh Valley finished up a long homestand with a 8-0 rain shortened loss against Pawtucket, and after a day off Wednesday, head to Gwinnett and Charlotte for an 8 game road trip.  Lehigh Valley went 2-4 on the week and are 11-14 on the year, four games behind division leading Pawtucket in the Northern DIvision of the International League.

‘Pigs leaders: Hitting: Reid Brignac is 5th in runs(17); Clete Thomas is tied for the league lead in walks(18)

Pitching: David Buchanan is tied for 5th in wins(3), tied for 9th in walks (13), 7th in IP (28.2), and is tied for the league lead in starts (6); Barry Enright has the 9th worst ERA (5.16) and 8th worst WHIP (1.63); Luis Garcia is 6th in saves (3)

‘Pigs Prospects: Jon Pettibone pitched ok in his last start, going 6 innings and allowing 3 runs on 5 hits against Pawtucket, earning a no decision.  Its pretty clear that Pettibone is not quite “himself” yet after missing some time with a sore shoulder in Spring Training.  He is scheduled to make his third start of the year on Friday.

Tyson Gillies is hitting .182/.245/.273 in 44 AB’s and missed three days last week after being suspended for “unprofessional behavior” . Gillies has struck out in a remarkable 35% of his plate appearances thus far for Lehigh Valley, leading to his demotion from the leadoff spot to the bottom of the lineup.  Gillies has yet to get a hit off of a lefty for Lehigh Valley (0-11).

Justin DeFratus is another trying to get himself right after some major difficulties in the Phillies bullpen.  In five games since being sent down, DeFratus is 0-0 with a 3.60 ERA in 5 IP.  He has allowed 7 hits, walked three and struck out only one.  His outings have been very inconsistent and he seems to be lacking the confidence that we have been familair coming to see over the last few years, especially in Lehigh Valley.

Phillipe Aumont continues to be an enigma wrapped in a riddle.  Most days unhittable, but some of those very same days he has no real idea where the ball is going to go once it leaves his hand.  He simply cannot be depended upon to get outs at the major league level while continuing to walk more than one batter an inning.  On the year, Aumont is 0-0 with a 2.79 ERA in 8 games.  Over 9.2IP he has allowed 8 hits, 10 walks and struck out 12.  The opposition is hitting just .242 against him but his effectiveness is greatly marginalized by the walks, that seem to occur more often in high leverage situations.

Next week: Franco, Rosin, Buchanan, Garcia

News and Notes: Maikel Franco was unavailable for Mondays game against Pawtucket with what the organization was calling an “internal issue”.

–RP Bj Rosenberg is likely headed to the DL after being diagnosed with a consussion following taking a line drive off the head on Monday evening against Pawtucket.

–Luis Garcia is now 6/6 in AAA save opportunities and has not allowed an earned run in his last 17IP at the AAA level.

–3B/OF Tyler Henson is hitting .340 over his last 16 games after starting the year 1-13.

–C Koyie Hill has hit safely in all 11 games he has started this year

–After being named IL Pitcher of the Week last week, Greg Smith came back with another excellent outing on Monday giving up just a lone earned run over 7 innings of work, during which he did not walk a batter.

–With his HR last Thursday (first in AAA), Maikel Franco snapped a 94AB HR drought that went back to last year.

Probables: Wed: Off; Thur: O’Sullivan; Fri: Pettibone; Sat: Buchanan; Sun: Smith

Transactions: Heading to Reading from Lehigh Valley this week were Relief Pitchers Kyle Simon and Hector Neris.  Joining Lehigh Valley from Philadelphia after being optioned was relief pitcher BJ Rosenberg.