Two wins, two losses Tuesday night.  Lehigh Valley got crushed although two position players gave up an 11-run ninth inning.  Reading came from behind to post a win, Jersey Shore cruised, and Clearwater didn’t get the memo that leadoff walks always score.

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Lehigh Valley (3-4) lost to Durham, 28-10.  Trailing 17-8 after eight innings, Esteban Quiroz and Cal Stevenson were asked to finish the game.  They allowed nine and two runs respectively.  Six real pitchers were also called into service.  Only Tyler McKay (1.93), who struck out the only batter he faced, and rehabbing Orion Kerkering, who allowed a single and walked a batter while striking out two, escaped without allowing a run.  Kolby Allard (6 R, 2 ER), Griff McGarry (2 ER, but he did strand two inherited runners), Zac Houston (8 ER), and Andrew Bellatti (1 ER) weren’t as fortunate.

The IronPigs actually kept it close for four innings, matching the Bulls runs in all but one inning and trailing 8-7 after four.  Matt Kroon went 4-6 with a double and 3 RBI.  Weston Wilson went 2-5.  Jordan Luplow went 2-4 with a double, walk, and 3 RBI.  Nick Podkul went 2-4 with a walk and RBI.  And, Kody Clemens went 1-3 with a HR, walk, and 2 RBI.

#2 Mick Abel – DNP

#6 Orion Kerkering – 1.0 IP, 1 H, 0 R, 0 ER, 0 BB, 1 HBP, 2 K

#11 Griff McGarry – 1.1 IP, 2 H, 2 R, 2 ER, 0 BB, 3 K

#19 Simon Muzziotti – 2-5 with a R, 2B, 2 RBI

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Reading (2-2) beat Portland, 9-8.  It was a back-and-forth affair with the Phils coming from behind with 3 runs in the seventh to forge the final score.  Carlos Francisco and Max Lazar kept the Sea Dogs off the board the final three inning for the win and save.

Reading scored 2 runs in the first on a wild pitch and Caleb Ricketts‘ sac fly.  They got a run in the second on Marcus Lee Sangs‘ RBI single.  They got 2 runs and a tie in the third on Carson Taylor’s solo HR and Robert Moore’s RBI single.  They got a run in the sixth on Jose Rodriguez‘ solo HR.  And, they took the lead in the seventh on Carson Taylor’s 3 run HR (3).  Taylor went 2-4 with 2 R, 4 RBI, and 2 HR (3).

#1 Andrew Painter – rehabbing from TJ surgery

#10 Gabriel Rincones went 0-1 with 2 R, 4 BB

#13 Carlos De La Cruz went 0-4 with a BB

#16 Christian McGowan – development list

#21 Caleb Ricketts went 1-4 with a R, BB, RBI

#26 Robert Moore – 2-3 with an RBI

#28 Jose Rodriguez went 1-2 with 2 R, RBI, 3 BB, HR (1)

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Jersey Shore (3-1) beat Hickory, 8-1.  Braeden Fausnaught pitched 5.0 innings and allowed on unearned run on 4 hits and a walk while striking out 2 batters.  Daniel Harper pitched 2.0 scoreless innings, walking one, and striking out two.  Jack Dallas pitched one inning allowed one hit and struck out one.  Andrew Walling walked one on one inning.

The BlueClaws scored early with a Justin Crawford solo HR in the first, RBI singles by Troy Scheffler and Erick Brito and an RBI double by Emaarion Boyd in the second, and an RBI single by Cade Fergus, RBI ground out by Zach Arnold, and RBI triple by Troy Scheffler.  They tacked on a solo HR by Felix Reyes in the seventh.  Troy Scheffler went 3-4 with a R, 2 RBI, 3B.  Erick Brito went 2-4 with a R and RBI.

#4 Justin Crawford went 2-5 with a R, RBI, HR (1)

#8 Bryan Rincon – went 1-4 with 2 R, 2B

#12 William Bergolla – DNP

#14 Pan Wen-hui is on the IL

#17 Emaarion Boyd – went 1-5 with 2B, and RBI

#23 Hendry Mendez – DNP

#24 Samuel Aldegheri – DNP

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Clearwater (2-2) lost to Fort Myers, 5-4.  Luke Russo started and went 5.0 innings.  He gave up 2 ER on 2 hits and a walk.  He struck out nine.  Braydon Tucker was tagged with a blown save when he gave up 2 ER in 2.0 innings on 2 hits and a walk.  He struck out three.  Drew Garrett got the loss bny giving up a run in 1.0 inning on 2 walks and 2 strike outs.  Saul Teran struck out two in one clean inning of relief.  In all the Threshers struck out 16 batters.

The Threshers scored in the first inning.  Aidan Miller drew a one-out walk and stole second base easily.  Devin Saltiban brought him home with a single to RF.  The Threshers should have scored more as Otto Kemp reached on a HBP and Kehden Hettiger walked to load the bases with just one out.  A couple of strike outs brought the inning to a disappointing close.  The Threshers tied the game with a run in the fourth.  Ricardo Rosario doubled with one out and scored on Avery Owusu-Asiedu’s two-out RBI single.  He stole second before the inning came to an end.  They took the lead in the fifth with 2 runs.  Aidan Miller lined a one-out single to RF and stole second (3).  After a two-out pitching change, Otto Kemp lined an RBI single to right.  Kemp stole second and scored on Kehden Hettiger’s RBI double to left.  He moved to third on a balk before the inning came to a close.

A leadoff walk by Tucker became one of two runs that scored to erase the Threshers’ lead.  A triple tied the game with one out.  But, 3B Otto Kemp cut down a runner at the plate for the second out, and Kehden Hettiger threw out a runner trying to steal second to end the inning.

The Threshers loaded the bases in the bottom of the sixth on a Raylin Heredia walk, Avery Owusu-Asiedu single, and a Keaton Anthony single to right that was hit to hard for the lead runner to score.  But, a strike out, pop up, and fly out from the top of the order produced a disappointing zero for the home team.  Otto Kemp led off the seventh with a triple but was thrown out trying to score on a ball back to the pitcher.  Ricardo Rosario who reached on the fielder’s choice was caught stealing to end the inning.

Top of the eighth, new pitcher, same result, a leadoff walk.  Followed by a stolen base, walk, wild pitch, sac fly.  Then two strikeouts too late as the Mighty Mussels had a one-run lead.

Raylin Heredia led off the eighth with a single but was thrown out stealing between two strikeouts.  The Threshers went quietly in the ninth.  They had a few opportunities to score but couldn’t come up with the key hit.  And two of four walks (both lead off walks) accounted for runs.  Oh well, it’s A-ball, they’ll learn.

Avery Owusu-Asiedu went 2-4 with an RBI, SB.  Rehabbing Otto Kemp went 2-3 with a R, 3B, RBI, HBP, SB.

#3 Aidan Miller – 1-4 with 2 R, 2 SB

#7 Devin Saltiban – 1-5 with an RBI

#15 Alex McFarlane – DNP

#18 TJayy Walton – 0-5

#20 Raylin Heredia – 1-3 with a BB

#22 Kehden Hettiger – 1-3 with a 2B, RBI, BB

#29 George Klassen – DNP

#30 Nikau Pouaka-Grego went 0-3 with 2 K

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Gameday Link for Lehigh Valley.

Gameday Link for Reading.

Gameday Link for Jersey Shore.

Gameday Link for Clearwater.

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Other Prospects:

#5 Starlyn Caba, Rookie Level

#9 Eduardo Tait, Rookie Level

#25 Alexis De La Cruz, Rookie Level

#27 Jalvin Arias, Rookie Level

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Transactions

4/09/2024 – Phillies sent RHP Orion Kerkering on a rehab assignment to Lehigh Valley
4/09/2024 – Lehigh Valley activated C Cody Roberts
4/09/2024 – RHP Noah Skirrow assigned to Reading from Lehigh Valley
4/08/2024 – Reading transferred RHP Mitch Neunborn to the Development List
4/07/2024 – Lehigh Valley released RHP Austin Brice