some of the week that was

The highlight of this week had to be J.A. Happ's 2 starts for the Phillies. James pitched 11 innings and was no decisioned twice. He gave up 4 earned runs on 8 hits (not bad) and 8 walks (too many), striking out 8 (good!). He has been returned to the IronPigs, because with the major league All-Star break coming next week, he would not pitch for 15 days. So the team decided he should go back to Lehigh Valley and make his next 2 starts on his regular schedule. I agree with this logic.

Speaking of Lehigh Valley, Matt Maloney was in the house on Wednesday night, and gave the Phillies a taste of what we knew he could do. Matt threw 6.2 innings for Louisville, allowing just 1 earned run (3 overall), picking up 7 strike outs to improve to 9-4, 4.11 on the year for the Reds' affiliate. Louisville won the game, 10-3. The HomeSide was represented by Don and Kathy Kadlac and Lynn Hoffman.

R.J. Swindel made his major league debut the other night against the Mets. R.J. held his own for 3 frames, although he did give up a home run to David Wright, allowing 2 earned runs on 4 hits.

The Threshers have had a rough week, losing 5 of 6 since my last post. The good news is Carlos Monasterios is back pitching. The bad news is he has lost both starts this week as the team struggles for wins. Quintin Berry is red hot, batting .400 over the last 10 games with 2 hits or more in 7 of the last 8, raising his average to .257. Q is also 30 for 37 in the stolen base department. Adrian Cardenas is also hot, hitting in 9 of his last 10, batting .315 on the year (15 for 15 on steals, too). Clay Harris has been promoted to Reading after hitting .351 in 43 games for Clearwater.

Speaking of Reading, Greg Golson has been activated off the DL and homered last night, and Orlando Guevara has also been returned to the R-Phils, who have gone 3-4 in the past week. Carlos Carrasco will start tonight after missing 2 starts with "shoulder discomfort".

Finally, the BlueClaws have won 10 of their last 12 and at 13-8 (51-40 overall) are 3 games behind West Virginia as they open a series tonight against the Greenville Drive (Red Sox Affiliate). We will catch up on the details over the weekend.