Phillies MLR 6/28/17: A Double-A Debut

Thursday’s Probables:

Lehigh Valley: Mark Appel vs. Pawtucket

Reading: Tyler Viza @ Harrisburg

Clearwater: Gm. 1: Jacob Waguespack @ Ft. Myers, Gm. 2: Edgar Garcia @ Ft. Myers

Lakewood: Sixto Sanchez vs. Greensboro

Williamsport: Luis Carrasco vs. Batavia

GCL: TBD vs. @ Tigers West

Lehigh Valley 10, Pawtucket 2 [box]

What’s the best way to bounce back from giving up 14 runs? Scoring 10 doesn’t hurt, that’s for sure. Just about everyone filled up the boxscore: J.P. Crawford was 1-for-2 with a triple and three walks, Rhys Hoskins 2-for-4 with a homer, Jorge Alfaro added a three-run homer, and Scott Kingery added another hit with 2 RBI. And yes, Nick Williams even walked twice. What a night.

On the mound, Tom Eshelman gave the Pigs six strong innings and allowed just two earned runs on four hits while walking out seven. And if you want your wild stat of the day, Eshelman still hasn’t gone fewer than six innings in any of his 10 Lehigh starts. Yes, you read that right. He’s been nothing short of spectacular thus far and now has a 2.15 ERA in AAA. He hasn’t walked more than one batter in any outing, AA or AAA, in 2017.

Yes, our old friend Kyle Kendrick did start this game, and yes, he was roughed up for six runs (five earned) in two innings of work. Some things never change, eh?

Reading 9, Harrisburg 2 [box]

Welcome to Reading, Cole Irvin. After being called up from Clearwater, the lefty made his AA debut in Harrisburg and led the Fightin Phils to a 9-2 win. He went six innings and scattered nine hits but allowed just two earned runs. He walked two and struck out five batters. Shane Watson, proving the save stat is just gonna have to go away some day, finished the last three innings with some scoreless ball and struck out five.

Drew Stankiewicz was 4-for-5 with a double. Kyle Martin and Jiandido Tromp both went deep, and Zach Coppola continues to be a pretty good table setter, going 1-for-4 with a walk.

It was announced earlier in the day that Tromp, Carlos Tocci, and Drew Anderson will all be heading to the Eastern League All-Star Game. It’s a shame Kingery won’t be there, but I’m pretty sure doesn’t mind being in AAA, either.

Clearwater @ Ft. Myers PPD, DH today

Greensboro 4, Lakewood 1 [box]

Not much offense in this one, and Bailey Falter ended up on the wrong end of things despite pitching pretty well: 6 IP, 4 H, 2 ER, 3 BB, 7 K.

Mickey Moniak went 0-for-4 after a strong Tuesday night. Daniel Brito and Arquimedes Gamboa each picked up a hit, and Gamboa had the lone ribeye of the evening.

But hey, tonight’s a Sixto Night, so there’s that.

Williamsport 7, Batavia 3 [box]

OK, we’ve got our first winning streak of the season. Yeah, it’s just two games, but it’s something.

And hey, this is nice to see:

Ortiz added 2 RBI, and Greg Pickett had a 3-for-4 night. Jake Scheiner, who DHed, went 2-for-5 with a double and a run scored. And despite being drafted as a third baseman, he was working at second before the game, so that’s something to keep an eye on.

Julian Garcia pitched six scoreless innings and struck out nine to pick up the victory.

GCL Phillies 18, GCL Tigers West 7 [box]

The young guys were raking yesterday, to the tune of 18 runs and 19 hits. Adam Haseley was in the middle of the lineup again, batting third and playing in center field. He went 2-for-5 with a triple and three RBI. Zach Green continued his rehab by hitting a three-run blast, and Jonathan Guzman added a 4-for-5 day.

Manuel Silva started for the Phils and allowed all seven runs before being relieved by Oscar Marcelino and Denny Martinez.