Pretty much an awful week for Lehigh Valley, who went 2-5 and are now at 59-66, 11.5 games behind division leading Scranton as well as  11.5 games out of the wild card spot with less than 3 weeks left in the season.

‘Pig hitting leaders include Andy Tracy who is 5th in runs (67), 2nd in homers (23), 2nd in RBI’s (81), and leads the league in walks (63) ,as well as  Rich Thompson who is 6th in triples (5) and 7th in stolen bases (24). Lehigh Valley pitching leaders include Drew Carpenter who is 4th in wins (10), 4th in ERA (3.20), 3rd in innings (138), 3rd in homers allowed (17), and 5th in strikeouts (111)  Kyle Kendrick is 9th in WHIP (1.21).

Continue reading Lehigh Valley Weekly Report →

8/07/09–Terry Tiffee had a huge night going 4-4 with a double in the ‘Pigs 4-0 win over Scranton.  Gustavo Chacin (7-3) continued pitching well in his quest for a major league rotation spot next year, going six shutout innings, giving up just 5 hits.  He walked 3 and struck out 5.  A Paul Hoover RBI double got Lehigh Valley on the board in the 4th and a sacrifice fly by Hoover tacked on another run for the ‘Pigs in the 6th.  A two run 7th featuring RBI singles by Tiffee and John Mayberry put the game away for Lehigh Valley.  Both Mike Cervenak and Rich Thompson added two hits apiece. Continue reading ‘Pigs Weekend Update →

A middle of the road, 3-3 week for Lehigh Valley, who now stand at 54-57, 9 games out of first place in the Northern Division of the International League.  ‘Pig league leaders include Andy Tracy who is 8th in runs (57), 4th in homers (18), 2nd in RBI’s (67),  and leading the league in walks (52).Mike Cervenak is 8th in RBI’s (57).  On the mound, Andrew Carpenter is 3rd in the league in wins (9), 7th in ERA (2.72), 7th in IP (119), 9th in WHIP (1.20) and 9th in strikeouts (94). Kyle Kendrick is 5th in starts (20) and 8th in IP (118). Continue reading Lehigh Valley Weekly Report →

07/30/09–Martinez vs. Carrasco in quite the pitching matchup.  Columbus jumped on Pedro’s second pitch of the game, a homer by Michael Brantley to give them the early lead. Michael Taylor gave the ‘Pigs the lead back in the 4th on a long homer to straight away center, his 3rd as an Iron Pig.  The lead didn’t last long as a four run fifth put Columbus up for good.  Martinez departed having gone 5 innings, giving up 5 runs (4 earned) on 3 hits.  He walked 3 and struck out 4, throwing 84 pitches, 53 for strikes. Single runs by Lehigh Valley in the 5th and 6th cut the lead to 5-4, but the bullpen had a difficult night, giving up 4 runs over the 8th and 9th, which led to the 9-6 Columbus win. Terry Tiffee was 3-4 with a run and an RBI, while Michael Taylor, Andy Tracy, and JJ Furmaniak all had two hits for Lehigh Valley.  Carrasco left having gone 5.1 innings, giving up 4 runs on 8 hits.  He walked one and struck out 6.  The Marson/Donald combination had a rough night for the ‘Clippers with Marson going 0-4 and DOnald going 0-3 with 3 strikeouts. Continue reading ‘Pigs Weekend Update →

Lineups are out and both Lou Marson and Jason Donald will be facing Pedro Martinez tonight with the weather clearing in Allentown.  Michael Taylor and John Mayberry will be manning the outfield corners and hitting 5th and 7th respectively against Columbus starter Carlos Carrasco.

Apparantly, Pedro is on a 70-80 pitch count this evening.

Top of first: Second pitch of the game, homer….Columbus 1, ‘Pigs 0, Pop Out, strikeout, fly out.  Martinez, 11 pitches, 8 strikes.  Fastest pitch: 89 mph.  1 IP, 1H, 1ER, 0BB, 1K.

Bottom of First:  Single(Ellison), fielders choice, double play.  Carrasco, 12 pitches, 8 strikes.  1IP 1H 0ER 0BB 0K.

Top of Second:  Fly Out, ground out, ground out (Marson).  Martinez, 2o pitches, 16 for strikes.  2IP 1H 1ER 0BB 1K.  A couple of COlumbus hitters looked silly on Martinez off speed pitches this inning.

Bottom of 2nd: Strikeout, Fly Out, single (Tiffee), STrikeout.  Carrasco 28 pitches, 18 for strikes.  2IP 2H 0ER 0BB 2K.  Columbus 1, Lehigh Valley 0.

Top of 3rd:  Strikeout (Donald on 93 mph fastball), ground out, walk, fly out.  Martinez, 37 pitches, 25 for strikes.  3IP 1H 1ER 1BB 2K.  Martinez threw several pitches in the low 90’s, topping out at 93 mph.

Bottom of 3rd: Fly Out, Strikeout, STrikeout (Ellison ejected arguing call).  Carrasco, 49 pitches, 32 for strikes. 3IP 2H 0ER 0BB 4K. Columbus 1, Lehigh Valley 0. Continue reading Martinez vs. Carrasco Live Blog →

First off, a very interesting pitching matchup Friday night in Allentown.  Pedro Martinez vs. Carlos Carrasco.  Who woulda thought? Look for a live blog of the action tonight (whether permitting).

The climb to .500 and above continues to be a difficult one for Lehigh Valley as a slew of roster moves and trades have the team wondering who will be in the locker room each night.  Despite the roster turmoil, the ‘Pigs did manage a 3-4 week (could have been worse) and are in 3rd place of the Northern Division of the IL at 51-54, 7.5 games out of first (6.5 out of the wild card).  This weeks look at hitting leaders includes Andy Tracy who is 9th in runs (55), 5th in homers (17), 3rd in RBI’s (60), and leads the league in walks(51).  Rich Thompson is 9th in the league in steals with 19.  On the hill, Andrew Carpenter is 4th in the league in Wins (8), 9th in ERA (2.71) and 10th in the league in WHIP (1.19), Kyle Kendrick is 2nd in the league in starts (20) and 2nd in the league in IP (118.2). Continue reading Lehigh Valley Weekly Report →

7/24/09–Control was the issue of the day for Carlos Carrasco (6-9) as Lehigh Valley opened a three game series against Gwinnett with a 7-5 loss.  A three run third inning off of Carrasco opened the scoring with 2 lead off walks coming around to score.  The ‘Pigs picked up two runs in the 5th, behind a Terry Tiffee RBI single, but walks hurt Carrasco again in the 3 run Gwinnett sixth inning, with another walk coming around to score.  Carrasco left having gone 6 innings and given up 6 runs on 4 hits.  He walked 4 and struck out 5. Lehigh Valley scored one in the 7th on a David Newhan sac fly and 2 more in the ninth to make the game close.  Terry Tiffee has 2 hits for Lehigh Valley, while Michael Taylor was 1-3 with a stolen base (2). Continue reading ‘Pigs Weekend Update →

Lehigh Valley, after a  4-3 week is at 48-50, in 4th place of the Northern Division of the IL, 8 games behind division leading Scranton with under 50 games to play.  They are 6.5 games out of the wild card spot.  ‘Pig league leaders include Andy Tracy who is 6th in runs (52), 5th in homers (15), 3rd in RBI’s (57), and 2nd in walks (48). Rich Thompson is 8th in stolen bases (18).  On the mound, Andrew Carpenter is tied for 3rd in winds (8), 9th in ERA (2.75) 10 th in WHIP (1.19), 10th in strikeouts (84) and 8th in innings (108).  Kyle Kendrick leads the league in starts (20) and IP (118), Carlos Carrasco is 3rd in the league in starts (19), 6th in IP (108.2), and leads the league in strikeouts (107). Carrasco is 7th in homers allowed (13), while Carpenter is 9th (12). Continue reading Lehigh Valley Weekly Report →

After rain washed out the game Friday night, a doubleheader was scheduled on Saturday with Gustavo Chacin getting the call in Game One, and falling behind early 3-0, giving up runs almost every time he fell behind in the count.  The ‘Pigs couldn’t get their offense going until the fourth, and when they did, the floodgates opened.  The six run fourth included a Miguel Cairo RBI single, 3 run double by JJ Furmaniak and a two run homer by Jason Ellison (4)off of Rochester starter Phil Humber. Rochester bounced back with two more runs off of Chacin (4-3), in the sixth, who departed having gone 5.1 innings, giving up 5 runs on 6 hits.  He walked 2 and struck out 1.  With the score 6-5 in the bottom of the sixth, Mike Cervenak ripped an RBI triple, which gave Lehigh Valley the all important insurance run in the shortened 7 inning game. Jack Taschner came in and pitched a scoreless 7th to pick up his first save of the year.  David Newhan continued scorching the ball against Rochester with 3 hits, while Cervenak added two of his own. Continue reading ‘Pigs Weekend Update →

Lehigh Valley goes into the all star break having lost two out of three this weekend, and witha record of 43-47, nine games behind division leading Scranton, in fifth place of the Northern Division of the IL.

7/10/09–A disappointing 5-4 loss to Scranton, with Gary Majewski  (0-4) imploding in the 8th inning to take the loss.  Kyle Kendrick started and pitched six shutout innings before hitting the 7th inning speed bump, allowing 3 runs.  His final line:  6.1 IP, 5H 3 ER 2BB 4K.  The ‘Pigs carried a 1-0 lead into the seventh, at which point things started going downhill for the ‘Pigs quickly.  Mike Cervenak (2-4) got the scoring going with a 4th inning homer (6), After the Yanks three spot, LVbounced back with 2 runs in the 8th and one in the 9th, but it wasn’t enough to hold off Scranton.  Lou Marson had yet another multi hit game going 3-4.  Miguel Cairo also added 2 hits for the ‘Pigs. Continue reading ‘Pigs Weekend Update →