Saturday was a bad day around the Phillies minor league affiliates. The only win of the day came in the late afternoon hours when Lehigh Valley won the first game of their doubleheader against Columbus. After that, the IronPigs dropped game two and Reading, Jersey Shore and Clearwater all went down in defeat.
| Game 1 | R | H | E |
| Columbus | 0 | 2 | 1 |
| Lehigh Valley | 4 | 2 | 1 |
OFFENSE: Darick Hall was the only Lehigh Valley player to get a hit in both ends of the doubleheader Saturday. He also has the distinction of being the first Lehigh Valley IronPigs player to hit a home run this season and it was a long one at that. Hall’s blast went off the signage that defines the outside rim of Coca-Cola Park. The home run came in the first inning of game one and he followed that up with a double in game two to go 2-for-6 on the night… The other hot hitter for Lehigh Valley, center fielder Dalton Guthrie, went 1-for-2 with a double, a walk and a run scored in the opener and then appeared as a pinch-hitter in game two and went 0-for-1. Guthrie is batting .471 on the season.
HR: COL – Gonzalez (1), Fry (1); LV – Hall (1)
| Game 2 | R | H | E |
| Columbus | 4 | 4 | 0 |
| Lehigh Valley | 2 | 6 | 2 |
PITCHING: Hans Crouse, one of the better pitching prospects in the organization, made his first start of the season in game two and was rolling right along through the first 3 2/3 innings. At that point, some sort of switch got flipped and he gave up back-to-back home runs – both on 3-2 pitchers – and then issued a walk, signaling the end of his outing. He finished with three earned runs on two hits – both HRs – and two walks, while striking out five, primarily with his cutter which worked extremely well early on… Ricardo Sanchez, who pitched in the majors with with St. Louis in 2020, had skipped over Triple-A and didn’t reach that level last season. So, he made his first start at Triple-A in the opener and looked good with three shutout innings, allowing just a walk and picking up two strikeouts… The Lehigh Valley bullpen pitched 7 1/3 innings in the two games and gave up just four hits and five walks which resulted in just one earned run… Mark Appel and Jeff Singer each threw two shutout innings in the opener, but Singer made the top of the seventh interesting when he walked the bases loaded before striking out Richie Palacios for the final out of the game.
Game 1: WP – Appel (1-0), LP – Myers (0-1), SV – none
Game 2: WP – Tully (1-0), LP – Crouse (0-1), SV – Mikolajchak (1)
ON THE AGENDA: Lehigh Valley (3-2) wraps up their series with the Clippers (2-3) Sunday afternoon when RHP James Marvel (0-0, 0.00) makes his second start of the season against LHP Kirk McCarty (0-0, 0.00) in a rematch of pitchers from game one. Lehigh Valley then goes to Worcester for a six-game series.
| R | H | E | |
| Somerset | 11 | 18 | 0 |
| Reading | 2 | 7 | 0 |
OFFENSE: Catcher Logan O’Hoppe went 3-for-4 with a double and an RBI in the loss for Reading. Jonathan Guzman grounded out to drive in the only other run for the Fightins… Reading batters whiffed 11 times in the game with Madison Stokes, Jhailyn Ortiz and Vito Friscia each striking out twice in the game… The Fightins were 1-for-9 (.111) with runners in scoring position and stranded nine runners on base in the game.
HR: SOM – Duran (1), Breaux (2); RDG – none
PITCHING: Mike Adams would like to take a mulligan for Saturday’s game. The right-hander came on in relief of starter Adam Leverett (3.2 IP, 6 H, 3 ER, 5 K) and was shelled. Adams allowed five hits and a walk that resulted in five runs for the Patriots (Yankees). Fellow righty reliever Bubby Rossman didn’t fare much better when he pitched later in the game and lasted 1 2/3 innings, with four hits and three earned runs allowed… In between the struggles, some relievers pitched well. Matt Seelinger pitched 1 1/3 shutout innings and Billy Sullivan threw one shutout inning.
WP – Waldichuk (1-0), LP – Leverett (0-1), SV – none
ON THE AGENDA: LHP Josh Hendrickson makes his first start of the year for Reading on Sunday, facing RHP Randy Vasquez. Reading starts a six-game series in Akron on Tuesday.
| R | H | E | |
| Aberdeen | 3 | 7 | 0 |
| Jersey Shore | 1 | 5 | 0 |
OFFENSE: The BlueClaws couldn’t get a timely hit when they needed one and finished the night 0-for-4 with runners in scoring position… Third baseman D.J. Stewart hit his first home run of the season and is now batting .276 (2-for-7) with three RBI and a stolen base… Jersey Shore hitters struck out 11 times in the game with every position player whiffing at least once and Luis Garcia and McCarthy Tatum both going down on strikes twice in the game… Right fielder Ethan Wilson went 1-for-4 at the plate, but made his presence known when he swiped his third stolen base in two games and threw out a runner at third base.
HR: ABD – none; JS – Stewart (1)
PITCHING: Mick Abel, the Phillies first round pick in 2020, pitched for Jersey Shore and had a rough outing. Abel was tagged for three earned runs in three innings, but did strike out five batters. Of his 47 pitches, 29 were for strikes… Four relievers – Ethan Lindow (3 IP), Dominic Pipkin (1 IP), Tyler McKay (1) and Carlos A. Francisco (1) – combined to throw six shutout innings on three hits and two walks. The four combined to strike out six batters.
| R | H | E | |
| Fort Myers | 4 | 5 | 1 |
| Clearwater | 2 | 6 | 3 |
OFFENSE: Clearwater had six hits in the game, all singles. Hao Yu Lee led the way with two hits and two RBI for the Threshers… Clearwater was 1-for-8 with RISP… The Threshers have been aggressive on the basepaths and stole three bases in the game, but were thrown out on two other attempts. Yhoswar Garcia now has two stolen bases on the season while Wilfredo Flores and Jamari Baylor both swiped their first of the season. Clearwater now has six thefts in eight attempts through the first two games of the season.
HR: FTM – Rodriguez (1); CLW – none
PITCHING: Five Threshers pitchers allowed just five hits, but walked eight batters in the game. Jared Wetherbee gave up three walks and a hit in the ninth, bringing in a run in the inning… Starter Andrew Painter, the Phillies first round pick – 13th overall – in last year’s draft, made his first start, allowing just an unearned run. All nine of the outs that he recorded came on strikeouts… Right-hander Bobby Hayward threw two shutout innings giving up just a walk in the outing, while Malik Binns gave the Threshers one shutout inning in relief.
WP – Festa (1-0), LP – Painter (0-1), SV – Paredes (1)
ON THE AGENDA: Gunner Mayer gets his first start on Sunday and Fort Myers will counter with Travis Adams. Both pitchers are right-handers. The Threshers open a six-game set in St. Lucie on Tuesday.