Congratulations to the Lakewood BlueClaws, who last night won the South Atlantic League championship with their 5-1 win over Greenville, winning their series 3-1.  Korey Noles got the win for Lakewood, throwing 7 strong innings, giving up just a lone run, while Austin Hyatt threw 2 shutout innings in relief, striking out 3.  As was the course this year, Anthony Gose got things going offensively for Lakewood with 3 stolen bases on the night, which led to two runs.  A fantastic job by the whole Lakewood organization, GM Geoff Brown and Manager Dusty Wathan.

Just figured I’d pass along this quick note.

Jason Knapp will undergo arthroscopic surgery to remove loose bodies.

Knapp, considered by some to be the key to the Cliff Lee trade earlier this season, was injured at the time of the trade. The Indians pulled the trigger anyways, feeling Knapp would not need surgery after looking at his medical records. However, the right-hander had not had an MRI with Philadelphia, which showed the loose bodies. He should be recovered in plenty of time for spring training; the Indians do not plan to file a grievance against the Phillies.

A couple of items over the last several days.  Andy Tracy and Sergio Escalona were both called up by the Phils to fill in some of the voids left by injury and lack of production.  Tracy, a 35 year old power hitting first baseman, was among the IL league leaders in several categories, including HR, RBI, R and BB. Escalona, has been used as a situational lefty in both Reading and Lehigh Valley and will be picking up some of the innings left out there by the injury depleted Phillies bullpen. 

To make room on the 40 man roster, Lehigh Valley starter Rodrigo Lopez was released.  Lopez, 34, was fairly effective this year in Lehigh Valley and provided the Phils with a couple of decent starts.  Just not enough room for the veteran righty.

Lakewood won Game One of their series behind a very nice outing from Matthew Way. Way went 7 innings and gave up just a run on 7 hits, while striking out 7.  Anthony Gose had a big day offensively with 3 hits, while Travis D’Arnaud, Travis Mattair and Brian Gump had two hits apiece.  Lakewood did leave 13 men on base, but still managed the victory with Santo Hernandez earning the save. Look for Trevor May on the hill tomorrow night as Lakewood attempts to close out the series.

A rough outing for Mike Stues in Game One of the Reading series, as the RPHILS lost 9-4 in Game One of their Best of Five tilt against Akron.  Stutes went 5.1 innings, giving up 6 runs (3 earned) on 9 hits.  AFter the Phils scored two early runs, Akron starter Josh Tomlin retired 17 straight batters as the Aeroes built their lead. This game also featured the return of Michael Taylor who has missed several weeks with an oblique injury.  Taylor was 0-4 with 3 strikeouts.  Yohan Flande gets the call tonight for Reading.

Playoff series begin for both Reading and Lakewood this evening with Mike Stutes throwing for Reading, while Matthew Way gets the nod for the BlueClaws.  The Reading series is best of five, while the Lakewood series is best of three.

Lakewood suffered a bit of a blow with Justin DeFratus being placed on the DL with the ever popular oblique injury. 

I am a little bit suprised that the Phils have not added another player or two to the roster of the big club as injuries and lack of bench production continue to be problematic for the Phils.  While the potential possibilities certainly are not game changers, adding Andy Tracy a power hitting left handed bat seems to make some sense.  With Greg Dobbs out another week to 10 days and Matt Stairs not having had a hit since the all star break, the addition of someone like Tracy who gives you a quality at bat seems to be a no brainer. Additionally, with the injuries in the ‘pen, the addition of Mathieson and/or Escalona seems to make some sense.  That still may happen when the Reading season concludes.  The addition of either Mathieson or Tracy would mean a corresponding 40 man roster move would be needed.