BlueClaws Up 1-0 in SAL Championship

Monday night the BlueClaws hosted game 1 of the South Atlantic League Championship and came out victorious over the Greenville Drive by a score of 6-3. The BlueClaws were led by second baseman Harold Garcia, who had a lead off homer in the 8th inning, and catcher Travis D'Arnaud who had two hits, including a double, an RBI and two runs scored.

Garcia, D'Arnaud and the other Lakewood players were joined by two big league Phillies for the series. Clay Condrey pitched a shaky inning in relief, while he continues to rehabilitate his injured oblique. The Phillies also assigned multi-time 2009 call-up Andrew Carpenter to Lakewood for the remainder of the week.

Condrey's inning was difficult. He allowed the first three batters to reach base before finding a groove, becoming loose and downing the next three batters. Condrey allowed a run on a walk and two hits.

Lakewood manager Dusty Wathan said of Condrey, "It's kind of a tough situation for him to be put in", hinting that Clay was there to focus on getting himself right, not on the SAL postseason. Wathan also said, "I think we saw a healthy Clay Condrey the last three batters he faced. As opposed to the first couple. He started to trust himself...and felt a little more confident."

Condrey said of his outing on Monday, "The way I reacted was a little tender with the oblique, I guess. But, the last three hitters all went aside and instincts kicked in a little bit."

When asked if he was favoring his injury, Clay said, "I think I am." Condrey and the Phillies' training staff will wait and see how his oblique reacts before they decide if he's ready to return to the big leagues. Condrey has been out since July.

About Carpenter's role with the BlueClaws, Dusty Wathan said, "We don't know yet. It's totally up to a day to day thing. It'll definitely come from above."

The BlueClaws struck early offensively. Anthony Gose began the night with a big fly that left the park and reached the tiki bar in right center field. Greenville took a brief lead with a run each in the 2nd and 3rd innings, off of Lakewood starter Matthew Way, but the 'Claws struck back with a pair of runs in the third inning on an RBI ground double by Garcia and a single by D'Arnaud that drove home Garcia. The 'Claws never gave up that lead.

Lakewood starter Matthew Way

Way struggled a bit through 4 1/3 innings. He walked 4 and gave up 6 hits, but only allowed 2 runs, both earned. Way had walked just 12 batters through 14 professional regular season starts this year. Way was relieved by Luke Wertz, who earned the victory for Lakewood with a scoreless inning of work.

Santo Hernandez closed the game out for the 'Claws, earning the save while striking out two Drive hitters.

The BlueClaws and Drive are back at it on Tuesday night at 7:05pm, when Lakewood righty Jesus Sanchez (10-6, 3.44 ERA) faces righty Caleb Clay (6-7, 4.01 ERA). After game two, the series will move to South Carolina for the remaining games of this best of five series.

----------------------

Tim Gradoville has been assigned to catch in the Major League Phillies' bullpen, for the remainder of the regular season, now that the Reading Phillies' season has ended.

Hey, follow PhoulBallz.com on Twitter HERE!

Rappers in Phillies Caps

Weekend greetings to you phine pholks out there. Today's post features pictures of rappers wearing Phillies caps. Why rappers in Phillies caps, you ask? Because... Any other questions? We will start things off properly by going with a highly recognizable hip hop star. 50 Cent stays constantly relavant by consistantly creating radio friendly material to help sell (G) units, while he "keeps it real" by still rapping about the thug life he lived before becoming the 2nd highest earning black entertainer in America. 50 is seen here in a recent interview rocking a throw-back Phillies cap. Next up we'll use a throw-back screen cap from what may be the very first major appearance by a rapper wearing Phillies gear. Chuck D, of legendary rap group Public Enemy, wore a Phillies cap in the music video for rap anthem Fight The Power in 1989. The song was the lead single from the soundtrack for Spike Lee's film Do The Right Thing . Next up we'll go with some home grown tal...

Lidge Shaky, T-Mac Honored in Trenton

TRENTON, NJ- Brad Lidge made his second rehab appearance for the Double A Reading Phillies on Thursday night and it didn't go as well as the veteran reliever or the team had hoped. Lidge struggled with his command and turned in a rather poor outing for the club that entered the night in a playoff race, 1 game behind division rival Trenton for the Wild Card spot in the Eastern Division. On the disabled list since spring training with a strained right rotator cuff, Lidge experienced an elbow strain when he was working back from that issue in late May. In his outing against the Yankees affiliate in Trenton, Lidge displayed difficulty with his control as he threw three wild pitches, hit two batters, walked another and gave up a single, all while letting up two earned runs on 28 pitches in 2/3 of an inning. After the disappointing performance, Lidge was composed and focused on some positive aspects, having reached 89 and 90 MPH on scouts' radar guns, according to some reports. ...

Drabek Preparing For Next Step

The transition has been easy for Kyle Drabek. In December, he was part of a package of young prospects that was traded to the Toronto Blue Jays for ace pitcher Roy Halladay. Now, as though nothing has changed, he's right back where he was last season...the star prospect on the pitching staff of a team in the Double A Eastern League. Drabek has often stated that he wanted to stay in the Philadelphia organization, who drafted him in the first round of the 2006 amateur draft. The 22-year-old thought after the midseason trade rumors, that surrounded him possibly going to Toronto last year, passed with no action that all the turmoil was over and that he could simply relax and focus on getting to the big leagues with the Phillies. That wasn't the case, as the deal eventually came to fruition over the off-season. In the Blue Jays system this season, Drabek doesn't have to worry about being dealt. He only has to concern himself with opposing batters and working on his secondary pit...

PhoulBallz.com

Search This Blog