Dylan Cozens returned to the Threshers’ line up on Wednesday.  He was the DH and batted fifth behind Rhys Hoskins.  It looked like Jupiter’s game plan was to feed Cozens a steady diet of off-speed pitches.  He struck out his first two at bats on pitches that broke low and away.  In his third at bat, he jumped on a first pitch fast ball and grounded out sharply to third.  Jupiter finally made a mistake and Cozens made them pay with a tape measure shot to right in the eighth inning.

Ethan Stewart was added to the Clearwater roster from Reading.  The Threshers had been carrying 24 on their roster anticipating Cozens’ return, however a cooresponding move must have been made prior to the game since they currently have 26 players on their roster 13 pitchers and 13 position players. Continue reading Box Score Recap – 7/22/2015 →

It was Nola Night in Philadelphia.  The Phillies drew 28,703 people to the game to watch Aaron Nola make his long-awaited debut in a Phillies uniform.  They even sponsored a “two-fer” ticket special – two tickets for $27.00.  Nola’s number is 27.  Pretty clever, eh?  I’m surprised they didn’t try to boost receipts by issuing him a higher number.

Nola was impressive in his first major league start.  He held the Rays to five hits and struck out six batters.  He completed six innings and threw 88 pitches, 59 for strikes.  Nola appeared to tire in the sixth when he went deeper in counts and walked his only batter.

Nola’s only blemish was a solo home run by the Rays starting pitcher, Nathan Karns on the first pitch of the third inning.  It was one of the few pitches he got up in the early innings and was in where even a pitcher can drive it.   Continue reading Box Score Recap – 7/21/2015 →