Phillies Minor League Roundup - May 5, 2014

Charlotte 9, Lehigh Valley 8

Barry Enright - 6.2 IP, 7 H, 4 R, 4 ER, 5 K, 3 HR, 6 GB, 6 FB
Jeremy Horst - 0.2 IP, 3 H, 2 R, 2 ER
Phillippe Aumont - 0.0 IP, 1 H, 3 R, 3 ER, 2 BB
Luis Garcia - 0.2 IP, 1 H, 0 R
Tyler Henson - 1 for 4, HR, 2 RBI, 3 K (fielding error)
Maikel Franco - 2 for 5, R, K
Reid Brignac - 2 for 4, R, BB
Koyie Hill - 1 for 3, R, 2 BB, K
Leandro Castro - 3 for 4, 2 R, 2B, 3 RBI, BB, CS

Where to even begin with this one. Lehigh Valley jumped to a 7-0 lead after the top of the first and had an 8-0 lead after the top of the 5th. What happened? Enright gives up two solo home runs in the bottom of the 5th and another solo home run in the bottom of the 7th. He would give up single before the bullpen would absolutely fall apart giving up another 2 runs in the bottom of the 7th and 4 runs in the bottom of the 8th, relinquishing their lead. Leandro Castro would end the game getting caught stealing for the final out. Remember all those nice pitching lines from this past weekend for the bullpen? Volatile pitching! But hey, Franco collected another two hits (but of course still isn't walking). He has an interesting .326/.341/.581 triple slash in his last 10 games.

Portland 8, Reading 1

Mike Nesseth - 2.0 IP, 4 H, 5 R, 5 ER, 3 BB, K, 2 HR
Austin Wright - 1 IP, 0 H, 0 R, K
Carlos Alonso - 1 for 4, BB, K (picked off)
Cesar Hernandez - 3 for 4, R, 3B, BB, CS
Cam Perkins - 1 for 5, RBI
Aaron Altherr - 0 for 5, K (outfield assist, 1B)
Tommy Joseph - 1 for 3, HBP
Zach Collier - 1 for 3, K, HBP

Maybe I'm missing something, but this is the second "start" in a row for Mike Nesseth. He has primarily been a reliever through his entire career. Have both of these been bullpen games, or are the Phillies trying to do something else with Nesseth? Either way, in his last two starts he has gone only a combined 5.1 IP and given up 10 hits and 10 earned runs while walking 3. Cesar Hernandez DOESN'T commit an error in this game. Perkins slowly coming back down to earth (hitting .310/.356/.357 in his last 10).

Clearwater 5, Brevard County 3

Ethan Stewart - 5.0 IP, 5 H, 3 R, 3 ER, 6 BB, 3 K, 8 GB, 4 FB
Jordan Guth - 3 IP, 1 H, 0 R, K
Colton Murray - 1 IP, 1 H, 0 R, BB, K
KC Serna - 2 for 5, R, K (picked off)
Peter Lavin - 1 for 4, 2 R, 2B, HBP
Harold Martinez - 2 for 3, R, 2B, 3 RBI, BB (fielding error)
Gabriel Lino - 1 for 4, RBI
Anthony Phillips - 2 for 3, RBI, BB

In a weird role reversal (spoiler alert), all Phils affiliates lose except for Clearwater. The just completely bizarre season for Ethan Stewart. When he is not being mistaken for Ethan Martin, he has throw 39 innings in which he has given up 23 walks and 6 home runs. He has only struck out 18, but thanks to bad defense has only given up 14 earned runs (24 runs altogether) and is holding batters to a .254 average. Basically, all these walks and home runs are going to hurt him sooner or later and that sterling 3.23 ERA is going to skyrocket. Harold Martinez's bat has come alive as of late, hitting .316/.366/.500 in his last 10 games, including a HR, 7 RBI and two stolen bases.

Asheville 5, Lakewood 1

Mark Leiter - 4.2 IP, 3 H, 3 R, 3 ER, BB, 4 K, HR, 7 GB, 3 FB (pickoff error)
JP Crawford - 1 for 4, K
Carlos Tocci - 1 for 4
Dylan Cozens - 1 for 4, R, 2 K
Willians Astudillo - 1 for 4, 2B, RBI (fielding error)
Mitch Walding - 1 for 3, BB, K
Samuel Hiciano - 0 for 3
Deivi Grullon - 0 for 3 (pickoff error)

Mark Leiter with a deceiving line this time out. He exited the game having only thrown 71 pitches up until that point. A 2 run home run was the biggest mistake by Leiter who otherwise pitched fairly well. The offense once again goes cold. Interesting to see that Asheville ran all over the Lakewood relievers, Shane Martin and Yacksel Rios. I'm not sure if it was their slow delivery or if they were testing Grullon's arm because they were able to get 4 stolen bases in the final 3 innings. JP Crawford extended his hitting streak to 8 games.