Decimated by both injury and roster roulette, Lehigh Valley has lost 9 of their last 11 games and are 28-33 since owning the best record in minor league baseball at 41-19.  A disappointing weekend at home against Charlotte, during which they lost 3 of 4 and are now 69-52 and 8 games back of division leading Scranton.  In the race for a wild card spot, the ‘Pigs have fallen 0.5 game behind Rochester.  After a much needed day off tomorrow, Lehigh Valley travels to Norfolk for three games then to CHarlotte for three over next weekend. The ‘Pigs current roster contains just 10 players who were on the opening day roster.

Probables: Tues: Eshelman, Wed: Lively, Thur: Taveras, Fri: Thompson, Sat: Leibrandt

News and Notes: On Sunday, Scott Kingery extended his current hitting streak to 12 games, during which time he is hitting .314. Kingery has hit in 28 of his last 29 games dating back a month.

—JP Crawford has now hit in 9 straight games, during which he is hitting .389.  Since July 1st, Crawford has been on base 35 out of 40 games and has hit .400, while hitting 11HR, tied for the IL lead.

–The struggles of Dylan Cozens continue, particularly on the road where he is hitting just .165 in 55 games. Since July 8th, Cozens is hitting just .146 with a strikeout rate approaching 50%.

–OF Roman Quinn remains on the DL and it is now likely he will miss the remainder of the minor league season, resulting in yet another injury shortened season.

—Brock Stassi is heating up, having hit in 8 of his last 9 games (.364) with 9RBI in those contests.

–At the time of his promotion last Thursday, Rhys Hoskins 29HR set a Phils single season AAA record and his 91RBI in a season ranked 2nd all time in Phils AAA history behind Andy Tracy’s 96.

–The ‘Pigs have hit a franchise record 137 home runs. They broke their franchise record of 122 on August 2.

–Since April 18th, P Tom Eshelman has gone a combined 11-3 with a 2.78ERA in 16 starts between Reading and Lehigh Valley.

–P Ben Lively is in a mini slump, having lost 3 straight starts during which his ERA is 7.05.

–Interest ting splits for P Cesar Ramos.  As a starter this year, he is 0-4 with a 5.86ERA.  In 20 games as a reliever, Ramos is 4-0 with a 1.23ERA.

–After getting crushed in his first 2 AAA appearances, Alexis Rivero has settled down and has not allowed an ER in his last 3 AAA games.

–On Saturday night, relief pitcher Yacksel Rios, earned his first AAA save.  Over his last six appearances, he has not allowed an ER, spanning 9.2IP.  Going back to late May, Rios is has a miniscule 1.01ERA in 17G combined between Reading and Lehigh Valley.

‘Pigs leaders, hitting: Dylan Cozens is 8th in AB(413), 8th in runs (61), 6th in RBI(64), 5th in HR(23) and leads the league in K’s(162); Rhys Hoskins leads the league in runs(78),HR(29),RBI(91), SLG(.581), is 2nd in walks (64),4th in OBP(.385), and 8th in hits (114); JP Crawford is 3rd in runs(66), 3rd in triples (6),  andleads the league in walks(66). Pitching: Jake Thompson leads the league in losses (12); Pat Venditte is 5th in games (45), Pedro Beato is 6th in games (44) and leads the league in SV(27); Tom Eshelman is 2nd in CG(3); Mark Appel is 6th in walks allowed (53).

Transactions: Coming: P Jose Taveras (from Reading), OF Cameron Perkins (from Philly), P Tom Eshelman (activated from DL), C Nick Rickles (from Reading), P Jake Thompson (from Philly),  Goings: P Edubray Ramos (to Philly), 3B Hector Gomez (DL), P Ricardo Pinto (Philly), C Jorge ALfaro (Philly), 1B Rhys Hoskins (Philly), P Zach Eflin (Philly)