Phillies MLR 8/1/18: Joey Meneses hits league-leading 20th homerun

Today’s Probables:

LHV: Drew Anderson
REA: Felix Paulino
CLR: Ramon Rosso
LWD: Will Stewart
WIL: Manuel Silva

Lehigh Valley 1, Buffalo 0 (GM1 of DH, 7 innings)
Buffalo 3, Lehigh Valley 2 (GM2 of DH, 7 innings, makeup of 6/24 ppd)

Cole Irvin - 7 IP, 5 H, 0 R, 3 BB, 4 K, 8 GB, 4 FB
Ranfi Casimiro - 5 IP, 6 H, 3 R, 3 ER, BB, 6 K, 2 HR, 4 GB, 2 FB
Aaron Altherr - 1 for 8, K
Mitch Walding - 0 for 1, 6 BB, K
Joey Meneses - 3 for 7, HR
Zach Green - 0 for 6, 3 K
Jesmuel Valentin - 1 for 3, RBI

Cole Irvin bounces back after his worst start of the season last week for a 7 inning shutout win, his 10th. His ERA is down to 2.77 in 130 innings with 110 strikeouts to 28 walks. He is basically having the season I thought Tom Eshelman would have. Anyway, Joey Meneses hit his 20th HR of the season in GM1. He leads the International League in that category. Behind him? Mitch Walding with 19 and Dylan Cozens with 18.

Trenton 6, Reading 1

Connor Seabold - 4 IP, 2 H, 1 R, 1 ER, BB, 3 K, 4 GB, 3 FB
Malquin Canelo - 0 for 4, 2 K
Adam Haseley - 2 for 4
Darick Hall - 2 for 3, HBP (fielding error)
Austin Listi - 0 for 4, K
Cornelius Randolph - 0 for 3, R, K, HBP

Connor Seabold was looking pretty good last night until he caught a line-drive to his pitching hand and had to leave the game. The offense behind him disappointed, going 2 for 7 with RISP and leaving 8 men on base. Adam Haseley keeps plugging away, with another 2-hit game he is slashing .348/.463/.530 in 66 AA at-bats.

Tampa 5, Clearwater 2

McKenzie Mills - 5 IP, 4 H, 3 R, 3 ER, 5 BB, 6 K, 1 GB, 4 FB
J.P. Crawford - 0 for 3, 2 K
Mickey Moniak - 1 for 4, R, 2B
Edgar Cabral - 1 for 4, K
Jose Pujols - 1 for 4, 2B, RBI, 2 K
Arquimedes Gamboa - 0 for 4, K
Luke Williams - 0 for 3, R
Kevin Markham - 0 for 3, K (outfield assist, 2B)
Raul Rivas - 1 for 3, RBI, K

McKenzie Mills with a clunker as he seems to keep alternating between good and bad starts since being reinserted back into the starting rotation. Despite the 3.81 ERA, his WHIP has risen up to 1.42. J.P. Crawford goes from the GCL to the FSL in his rehab. It wasn’t a great one last night, though I was pretty sure going into his rehab that it wasn’t going to be an easy one. Last night was Mickey Moniak’s 8th double in his last 10 games.

Lakewood 7, Delmarva 5

Damon Jones - 5 IP, 6 H, 5 R, 5 ER, 2 BB, 5 K, HR, 3 GB, 4 FB
Daniel Brito - 1 for 5, HR
Simon Muzziotti - 2 for 5
Jhailyn Ortiz - 0 for 5, 4 K
Nick Maton - 2 for 4, R, 2B, BB, SB
Matt Vierling - 2 for 3, 2 R, 2B, HR, BB, HBP
Colby Fitch - 2 for 5, 2 R, HR, K
Josh Stephen - 2 for 4, 3B, 3 RBI, K
Dalton Guthrie - 1 for 3, BB

It’s been a bit rocky for Damon Jones of late as he has now given up 22 earned runs in his last 23.2 innings. While his ERA is 3.63 following the game, it was as low as 1.86 on June 23rd. The BlueClaws brought the power last night with homers from Daniel Brito (4), Matt Vierling (2) and Colby Fitch (5). Jhailyn Ortiz is looking like he did before his extensive DL stint earlier this season. You have to wonder if his shoulder is bothering him again.

Mahoning Valley 6, Williamsport 5

Francisco Morales - 3.2 IP, 7 H, 6 R, 6 ER, 3 BB, 6 K, 2 WP, 1 GB, 1 FB
Ben Aklinski - 1 for 5, HR, 2 K
Rafael Marchan - 0 for 4
Madison Stokes - 0 for 3, BB, K
Edwin Rodriguez - 0 for 4, 2 K
Ben Pelletier - 0 for 4, 2 K
Brayan Gonzalez - 1 for 3, 2 R, BB
Jonathan Guzman - 3 for 3, 2 R, 2B, BB
Jesus Henriquez - 0 for 3, 2 K
Keudy Bocio - 2 for 4, 2 2B, 3 RBI

Francisco Morales development this season certainly hasn’t been forward-moving. Despite the strikeout totals (36 in 31.2 IP), he’s walking too many batters (22), allowing too many hits (31.2 IP). This is never a recipe for success. I haven’t been able to watch him this season outside of clips here and there, but the stuff really is impressive so I do hope he is able to harness it as he matures. Ben Aklinski hit his 4th HR and Jonathan Guzman had himself a multi-hit game. Guzman has had 10 multi-hit games in 37 games this year. That sounds good right? Well, he’s also gone 0fer at the plate 16 times. Though as always, patience with the young talented SS is needed.