Bailey “falters” in GCL outing.  Sorry, this phrase germinated on June 9th when the Phillies made Bailey Falter their fifth round selection in the Amateur Draft.  The seed sprouted today when Falter had a shaky start against the GCL Yankees2.  This was the left-handed pitcher’s second start.  In two previous appearances,  Falter had held the opposition to one unearned run on three hits and a walk while striking out eight.  The lanky pitcher is listed at 6’4 and 175 lbs.  He has long limbs but throws the ball from a tight, compact release that belies his build.  It looks more toward over the top than three-quarters.  He throws all his pitches from the same arm slot.  Today he pitched three batters into the third inning before being relieved.  He got a few of his pitches “up” and the Yankees hitters barreled them.  Still, he struck out four of the six outs he recorded, all swinging. Continue reading Box Score Recap – 7/20/2015 →

The Clearwater Threshers interrupted their 20-game excursion against teams from the FSL South Division with a three game series against North Division cellar dweller Lakeland.  The Threshers halted their three game losing streak, scoring single runs in three different innings.  All three runs came with two outs.  Ricardo Pinto enjoyed the longest start of his career.  And Jesen Therrien came in to pick up a one inning save.

Clearwater (53-41) beat the Lakeland Flying Tigers 3-1.  Ricardo Pinto threw eight, 3-hit innings, walking one and striking out three.  He pitched seven scoreless innings after the Tigers scored an unearned run in the first inning.  Ironically, an errant pickoff throw by Pinto helped set up the run.  After the first inning, Pinto faced the minimum over the next seven innings.  Only two runners reached base – a single in the second was thrown out when the batter tried to stretch it to a double, and a walk in the eighth was erased on a double play.  Jesen Therrien powered through a 1-2-3 ninth inning for his second save. Continue reading Box Score Recap – 7/19/2015 →

Brandon Leibrandt pitched on Eighties Night in Clearwater.  First, he threw 83 pitches.  Second, his fastball was in the mid-to-upper 80s.  And, third 85.9% of the 64 pitches that registered on the radar gun were in the 80s.  See what I did there.  Eighties night, 83 pitches, upper 80s FB, 85.9% in the 80s.  Seriously, this game followed a similar pattern for Leibrandt.  He lives in the 80s and pitches out of jams.  The most glaring difference tonight was the 2 walks.  He normally has much better control.  The hit batter wasn’t a big deal, he was trying to establish the inside part of the plate.  It was a shame that it came as the seventh pitch of the at bat on a 1-2 pitch.

Clearwater (52-41) lost to the Palm Beach Cardinals 7-2.  Brandon Leibrandt pitched 6.0 innings.  He gave up 1 run on 5 hits, 2 walks, and a HBP.  His strike/ball was 52/29.  He also caught a runner trying to steal third.  Leibrandt left with a 2-1 lead that was provided by a Mitch Walding 2-run HR (3).  The bullpen took over and imploded over the next 3 innings. Continue reading Box Score Recap – 7/18/2015 →

Clearwater (52-40) lost to the Palm Beach Cardinals 2-0.  Victor  Arano and the Cardinals’ Luke Weaver were locked in a pitchers’ duel for seven innings.  After the Cardinals posted a first inning run, the two pitchers combined to limit batters to 4 hits through the end of the seventh inning.  Neither pitcher walked a batter.  Their low pitch counts and the need for only one coach’s visit to the mound per team, accounted for the game’s short duration (2:17).  Weaver flirted with a perfect game into the fifth inning. Continue reading Box Score Recap – 7/17/2015 →

Clearwater (52-39) lost to the Palm Beach Cardinals 3-0.  David Whitehead took the loss.  He allowed 3 runs (2 ER) in 6.1 innings on 8 hits and 2 walks.  He hit a batter and struck out five.  He threw a wild pitch that set up the Cardinals first run.  When Whitehead ran into trouble in the seventh, Miguel Nunez came on to shut the Cardinals down.

The Threshers were shut down by a pitcher who was only just called up from Full A ball earlier this month.  Daniel Poncedeleon was making his second start in the FSL.  He held the Threshers to 6 hits in 8.0 innings.  He was very effective against the aggressive Threshers batters.  He started the eighth inning having only thrown 70 pitches in the first seven innings.

Whitehead threw 88 pitches in his 6.1 IP.  Remarkable because he threw 28 pitches in the Cardinals’ second inning when they scored the game’s first run.  He kept it close until the seventh when he surrendered a lead off HR.  The stadium gun worked intermittantly and I only have readings for half of Whitehead’s pitches.  So, I don’t know how accurate it is to state that he was 89-92, T93.

The Threshers managed only 6 hits, all singles.  They hit several balls hard, but couldn’t string enough together to score.  Carlos Tocci (.275) went 2-4.  Canelo and Mitch Waldng made a couple good defensive plays to keep the game close.

Lehigh Valley (40-52) lost to the Rochester Red Wings 6-0 on Nola Night.  Aaron Nola lasted 3.0 innings, his shortest outing of the season (and shortest of his professional career since going 2.1 innings in his pro debut at Lakeland on June 23, 2014 with Clearwater).  He gave up 6 runs (5 ER) on 7 hits, 2 walks, and 2 HR.  The bullpen held the red Wings to one hit over the final five innings.  (I saw some comments on Twitter that blamed Nola’s sub-par performance on Ruben Amaro for not bringing him up to the majors.  Really.)  The IronPigs managed 5 singles.  Aaron Altherr (.300) went hitless.  Gabriel (.273) went 1-4.

Reading (49-42) beat the New Britain Rock Cats 3-1.  Starter Reinier Roibal had to leave after tweaking something warming up for the third ining.  The bullpen took over.  Ethan Martin gave up a run on 4 hits in 3.0 innings.  Colton Murray earned the win with two, one-hit innings.  Ryan O’Sullivan struck out 2 in one hitless inning.  Stephen Shackleford picked up his 20th save.  Kelly Dugan (.325) went 1-4 with a triple and RBI.  Brock Stassi (.308) went 1-3 with an RBI.  Andrew Knapp (.321) went 1-4 with a triple.

Lakewood (45-44) beat the Kannapolis Intimidators 3-1.  Lakewood held the Intimidators to 3 hits.  Austin allowed 2 hits and 3 walks while limiting Kannapolis to one run in 6.0 innings.  Manny Martinez pitched one no-hit inning.  Joey DeNato allowed one hit in 2.0 innings while recording his fifth save.  Herlis Rodriguez (.307) went 2-4 with a HR (7) and RBI.  Scott Kingery (.240) went 2-4.  Kyle Martin (.372) went 1-4.  Cord Sandberg (.259) went 1-4 with 2 RBI.

Williamsport (18-7) lost to the Batavia Muckdogs 4-2.  Alejandro Arteaga put together a quality start.  He threw 95 pitches (66 strkes) in 6.0 innings.  He gave up one run on 5 hits and a walk.  He struck out eight.  The lone run he allowed came on a solo HR in the fifth inning.  Lewis Alezones and Juan Figueroa  conspired to blow the save and lose the game.  Alezones left the game after one-third of an inning with runners on the corners.  He had given up a single, force out on a sacrifice attempt, stolen base, wild pitch and a walk when he was lifted.  Figueroa allowed one inherited runner to score on a SF.  Next inning, Figueroa gave up a 2-run HR.

The Cutters scored their 2 runs on just 6 hits.  Brendon Hayden (.352) went 2-3 with a walk.  Jose Pujols (.326) went 2-4 witha double and RBI.  Pujols also ended a couple early scoring chances.  He grounded into a double play with runners on first and second to end the first.  And, he was thrown out at home to end the third.

GCL Phillies (17-5) beat the GCL Astros 3-2.  Adonis Medina (1.20 ERA) struck out three and walked one while holding the Astros to 1 run on 4 hits in 5.0 innings.  Kevin Walsh pitched two, one-hit innings.  Nick Fanti made his professional debut.  He allowed one hit but struck out the side in his one inning of work while getting the win.  Sutter McLoughlin notched his third save with a perfect ninth inning.

The Phillies pushed two runs across in the ninth to get the come-from-behind victory.  Jesus Alastre (.298) went 2-3.  Cornelius Randolph (.279) went 0-4.  Luis Encarnacion (.284) went 0-2 with 2 walks.  Lucas Williams went 1-4.  Greg Pickett played 4 innings in RF and went 0-2 with an RBI.  Scott Tomassetti (.385) went 1-4.  Rodolfo Duran went 2-2 with 2 RBI on a go-ahead single in the ninth.

DSL Phillies (24-17) beat the DSL Astros Blue 5-0 on the 15th.  Randy Alcantara (6-0, 2.22) allowed 5 hits in 8.0 innings.  He walked none and struck out three.  In his 8 starts this season, Alcantara has pitched 48.2 innings.  He has only struck out 28 batters, but he has only issued 5 walks.  DH Daniel Brito (.278) went 1-4.

On the 16th, they beat the DSL Royals 6-3.  Joel Cabrera pitched 8.0 innings and got the win.  He threw 7 shutout innings after giving up 3 runs in the first inning.  He allowed 11 hits, but neither walked nor struck out anyone.  Jose Nin earned his first save, striking out two in his one inning.  Nerluis Martinez (.296) went 2-4 with an RBI.  Daniel Romero, Emmanuel Garcia, and Ronaldo Marrero also had 2 hits a piece as the Phillies scored 6 runs on 11 singles and 1 walk.

VSL Phillies (23-29) lost to the VSL Rays 5-0.  The Phillies amassed three hits.  Enger Jimenez (.311) went 2-4.

Here’s the affiliate scoreboard from MiLB.

Extra Innings –

• The deadline for the signing of 2015 draft picks arrives at 5:00PM Friday.
• RHP Randy Alcantara assigned to DSL NL All-Stars.
• C Nerluis Martinez assigned to DSL NL All-Stars.
• Keith Law posted his mid-season top 50.  J.P. Crawford was #2, Aaron Nola was #38.
• BA posted their mid-season team top 10 –

1. J.P. Crawford
2. Aaron Nola
3. Franklyn Kilome
4. Zach Eflin
5. Ben Lively
6. Roman Quinn
7. Carlos Tocci
8. Tom Windle
9. Ricardo Pinto
10. Malquin Canelo

Three Threshers combined to hit four home runs in Wednesday night’s game against the Palm Beach Cardinals.

Clearwater (52-38) scored first, continued to pile on runs, and defeated the Cardinals 9-1.  Aaron Brown (2), Rhys Hoskins, and Carlos Tocci provided the power as their 4 home runs contributed to Threshers’ 13-hit attack. Continue reading Box Score Recap – 7/15/2015: “Power Surge in Clearwater!” →

Not very many games Tuesday.

GCL Phillies (16-4) beat the GCL Tigers 8-2. Bailey Falter (the Phillies #5 in the Amateur Draft) made his second start. He threw 4.0 innings and gave up an unearned run and two hits. He issued zero walks. Falter struck out five, three consecutive after allowing a leadoff double in the fourth inning. He unleashed one wild pitch that figured into the scoring of a two-out run in the third when catcher Rodolfo Duran commited a throwing error on the play at third. Falter retired the Tigers in order in both the first and second innings. Continue reading Box Score Recap – 7/14/2015 →

Lehigh Valley (40-51) no game scheduled.

Reading (48-42) no game scheduled.

Clearwater (51-38) beat the Fort Myers Miracle 3-2.  Ricardo Pinto allowed one earned run in 6.2 innings.  Yacksel needed 1 pitch to blow a save, but get a win.  Ulises Joaquin picked up his 11th save.  The offense managed 5 hits, a walk, and a key fielding error to beat the Miracle. Continue reading Box Score Recap – 7/13/2015 →

Lehigh Valley (40-51) beat the Pawtucket Red Sox 4-0.  Anthony Vasquez threw four-hit shutout ball for 8.0 innings.  Adam Loewen pitched a perfect ninth for his fifth save.  Aaron Altherr (.316) went 1-5.  Logan Moore went 2-4 with a HR (1) and 3 RBI.

Since falling to 22-42 on June 13th, the Iron Pigs are 18-9 and have won 11 of their last 14 games.

Reading (48-42) beat the Akron RubberDucks 7-2.  Hoby Milner gave up 1 run in 4.0 innings.  He threw 88 pitches, gave up 4 hits, issued 4 walks, and picked off a runner.  Joely Rodriguez got the win.  Edubray Ramos allowed an inherited runner to score.  Ryan O’Sullivan pitched a perfect ninth.  Kelly Dugan (.327) went 2-4 with a double and a walk.  Brock Stassi (.308) went 2-4 with a HR (8), 2 RBI, and a walk.  Andrew Knapp (.327) went 2-5 with a double and 2 RBI.

Clearwater (50-38) beat the Fort Myers Miracle 4-1.  Brandon Leibrandt pitched six, one-run innings – 6 hits, 0 walks, 3 Ks, and picked off a runner.  Miguel Nunez struck out 4 in 2.0 innings.  Ulises Joaquin struck out 2 while collecting his 10th save.  Carlos Tocci (.256) went 2-5 with an RBI.  Rhys Hoskins (269) went 2-5.  Chace Numata (.293) went 1-4.  Mitch Walding drew 3 walks.  Malquin Canelo and Derek Campbell each stole a base and had an RBI.  All ten of the Threshers hits were singles.

Lakewood (43-43)  beat the Hickory Crawdads 7-4.  Jerome Williams got rocked by A level hitters, so, yeah, he’s ready to go back to the Phillies.  Will Morris pitched the final 5.0 innings of shutout ball to earn the win.  Kyle Martin (.358) went 3-4 with an RBI. Cord Sandberg went 3-4 with a double and 3 RBI.  Deivi Grullon went 2-4 with a double and 2 RBI.  Herlis Rodriguez had an outfield assist.

Williamsport (17-5) beat the Connecticutt Tigers 3-2.  Luke Leftwich pitched 3.0 shutout innings.  Tyler Gilbert allowed 1 unearned run in 4.0 innings.  Juan Figueroa blew the save but got the win.  Robert Tasin picked up his 5th save.  Jan Hernandez went 1-4 with a HR (4) and 2 RBI.  Jose Pujols (.351) went 2-3 with an RBI..

GCL Phillies (13-4) no game scheduled.

DSL Phillies (21-16) no game scheduled.

VSL Phillies (20-28) no game scheduled.

Here’s the affiliate scoreboard from MiLB.

Extra Innings –

• Philadelphia Phillies sent RHP Jerome Williams on a rehab assignment to Lakewood BlueClaws. (And they won anyway.)

Lehigh Valley (39-51) lost to the Pawtucket Red Sox 7-2.  Jason Berken gave up 3 runs on 10 hits in 6 innings and left trailing by one run.  Seth Rosin pitched the Pigs in a deeper hole and the offense could not make up the deficit.  Aaron Altherr (.324) went 2-4 with an RBI and stolen base.  Russ Canzler and Ethan Chapman each had 2 hits.  Gabriel Lino (.274) went 1-4. Continue reading Box Score Recap – 7/11/2015 →