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Thursday's Probables
Lehigh Valley: Mark Appel vs. Scranton/Wilkes-Barre
Reading: Nick Pivetta @ New Hampshire
Clearwater: Matt Imhof @ Tampa
Lakewood: Shane Watson @ Asheville
Pawtucket 7, Lehigh Valley 2 [box]
Everyone wanted to see Zach Eflin take the hill Wednesday morning at Coca-Cola Park, but Mother Nature was having none of it. Eflin warmed up prior to the game, but the tarp went on the field soon thereafter. A lengthy delay eventually led to Eflin being scratched for precautionary reasons, giving Reinier Roibal the surprise start.
Roibal ended up pitching three scoreless innings for the Iron Pigs, who put up a pair of runs on sacrifice flies in the first inning. Those would be the lone runs of the day in a poor offensive effort for Lehigh Valley.
The Pigs were five outs away from a win, though, until things unraveled in the 8th inning. Cam Perkins made a costly error in the outfield that allowed Pawtucket to tie the game, and the Red Sox added five more runs in the 9th, pulling away with a 7-2 win.
Reading 4, New Hampshire 3 [box]
J.P. Crawford hasn't missed a beat, homering Tuesday night in his return from an ingrown fingernail and putting together another good night Wednesday. Crawford had a hit and a run scored, along with another walk (and of course, no strikeouts) to help lead the Fightins.
Angelo Mora continues to string together great offensive performances. The Fightins' third baseman went 3-for-4 with a double, triple and 4 RBI.
Ben Lively tossed five innings, allowing three runs, but just 54 of his 92 pitches were for strikes. The bullpen combination of Yacksel Rios, Hoby Milner and Edubray Ramos allowed just two hits and no runs in their four innings of work.
Asheville 2, Lakewood 0 [box]
I've heard Asheville's a beautiful place, and I think this has to back it up:
McCormick Field. Asheville, NC. BlueClaws and Tourists for the next three nights. pic.twitter.com/eyl8diUWx9
— Lakewood BlueClaws (@BlueClaws) May 4, 2016
Apparently the Blue Claws got caught up in the beauty of the ballpark and forgot to score runs. Lakewood managed just six hits on the evening, three of them coming from Jan Hernandez.
Asheville's Brendan Rodgers (Colorado's first round pick in 2015) doubled three times and scored a run.
Tyler Gilbert allowed two runs over seven innings.
Tampa @ Clearwater - PPD
Apparently the crummy weather in the Delaware Valley has rubbed off on Clearwater, too. The Threshers will play a doubleheader against Tampa on May 15.
Matt Imhof was scheduled to "start", though Michael Mariot was once again going to get the official start in his third game of rehab action. It's probable that the Threshers will try to do the same thing again today as they visit Tampa.