Skip to main content

BlueClaws' Offensive Onslaught Downs Charleston

With a strong showing at the plate on Tuesday night, first baseman Jim Murphy accomplished a feat rarely seen. When he flew out to the warning track in the bottom of the 8th inning, he received a rousing ovation from the crowd on hand to see the Class A BlueClaws take on Yankees affiliate Charleston RiverDogs.

"It was surprising for sure," Murphy said of the nod he received from the appreciative home crowd of 3,644 after his attempt to mash a third homerun in the game fell short.

Murphy, who stands 6-feet-3-inches tall and weighs in at 230 pounds, went 3-for-4 on the night while driving in a career-high 6 runs with a single and 2 powerful homeruns.

The Phillies' 17th draft selection in the 2007 amateur draft, Murphy, played with Lakewood in 2009 and was with the High A level Clearwater Thresher in 2010.

With his 5th and 6th dingers of the season, Murphy is positioned just 2 homeruns from tying the all-time Lakewood lead in homeruns, 22 currently held by Juan Richardson, who played with the BlueClaws in the team's inaugural season of 2001.

"Holding any record for any team (would be) fun, especially a record like that. Obviously, (Ryan) Howard and a lot of guys, that are up in the big leagues now, played here. So that would be a cool record to hold," Murphy stated.

Teammates Cameron Rupp and Edgar Duran each slammed their first homeruns of the season. For Duran, the shortstop that was named Phillies minor league player of the week on Monday, it was the first of his professional career. Second baseman Jeremy Barnes added 3 safeties for Lakewood, to help the two-time defending South Atlantic League champions lock down an 11-1 victory over the RiverDogs.

The BlueClaws got off to a slow start offensively this season, as they scored just 27 total runs in their first 12 games. However, the lumber has really come alive since last week, as Lakewood has plated 55 runs in the past 6 games.

With 15 hits in Tuesday night's 11-1 victory over Charleston, the 'Claws continued their recent success at the dish. Manager Chris Truby attributes a new zealous approach and the absence of wasted at bats as reasons for the team's change of fortune with the bats.

"It's been nice to see them come out hacking and being aggressive. We've had some big 2-out RBI's. I've thought our at bats have been solid for the most part," Truby said.

The BlueClaws began cracking in the first inning against lefty starter Kramer Sneed. Murphy started things off with a run scoring single and Zach Collier, who received new life in his at bat after a pop foul fell between Sneed and catcher Gary Sanchez, drove in Barnes and Murphy with a triple, that put Lakewood up 3-0.

The runfest rolled on in the 2nd frame, as the home club tacked on 5 more runs. Duran's solo blast was followed by singles from Aaron Altherr and Geancarlo Mendez as well as a double by Barnes that firmed up a BlueClaws cycle after just 4 outs in the game by Lakewood. A 3-run bomb by Murphy to deep left field capped off the inning.

Later, in the 7th inning, Lakewood would notch its second 2-homer inning of the night when Murphy launched his second four-bagger, a 2-run blast, and struggling catcher Cameron Rupp got his first homerun in a BlueClaws uniform, which cranked the home team's runs total up to 11.

Rupp, who is batting .186 this season, has been putting in extra work each day, in order to try to improve his offensive output.

"I've been working with (hitting coach Greg) Legg everyday, coming in early. The results weren't showing for me and I was getting frustrated, but I stayed with my plan, got a pitch and got it off," Rupp stated.

Lost in the story of the collective crush was starting pitcher David Buchanan's 7 innings of shutout baseball. The Phils' 7th round draft pick from 2010 pushed his record to 3-0 on the year and lowered his rotation-best ERA to 1.82.

The BlueClaws and RiverDogs will go back at it on Wednesday at 11:05 AM, as last year's 1st round draft pick by the Phillies, Jesse Biddle, will attempt to earn his first Class A win against right-handed hurler Zach Nudding, who sports a 2-0 record thus far in 2011.


In more minor league news...
The Phillies announced on Tuesday that Double A Reading second baseman Harold Garcia will miss the remainder of the 2011 season with a torn ACL in his right knee. Garcia was batting .300 with 3 doubles and 2 homeruns in 12 games this season with the R-Phils.

The Triple A IronPigs were out-hit 12-2 and were defeated by Pawtucket 7-2. Catcher Dane Sardinha's 0-for-3 performance in this contest dropped his batting average to .088 for the season in 11 games.

Against the Erie SeaWolves on Tuesday, Reading lost back to back games for the first time this season, as they dropped both ends of a double header. In game 1, Reading was shut out 4-0 and righty starter Austin Hyatt took his first loss of the season while giving up 4 earned runs over 5 innings. In the second game, Erie walked off with 3 runs in the bottom of the 7th inning (two 7-inning games in minor league double headers) as Justin De Fratus gave up a game ending hit and took the blown save, while Phillippe Aumont was charged with all 3 runs and took the loss.

In more double header action, the High A Clearwater Threshers split 2 games with the Tampa Yankees. In the first contest, RHP Trevor May won his first game of the season, as the Threshers were victorious, 10-1. May tossed a 7 inning complete game, striking out 6 and walking none. In game 2, Tampa won 4-0. Converted pitcher Joe Savery went 3-for-8 with 2 RBI on the day, which puts his season batting average at .456.

__________________________________________

You can follow PhoulBallz on Twitter by clicking HERE.

You can also connect with PhoulBallz on Facebook by clicking HERE.

Comments

Popular posts from this blog

Diekman a Late Addition to Mesa AFL Roster

On Wednesday, Phillies lefty pitching prospect Jacob Diekman made his Arizona Fall League debut. Diekman, who was drafted in the 30th round of the 2007 amateur draft, was assigned to Mesa late, in order to increase his 2010 innings total, according to Mesa hitting coach Mark Parent, who managed Diekman in Lakewood this past season. Diekman, 23, posted a 2-0 record with 1.90 ERA in 21 games with Class A Lakewood before being promoted to High-A Clearwater on June 24th. In 24 games with the Threshers, Diekman went 0-2 with a 3.66 ERA. Combined, Diekman tossed 55 2/3 innings and held opponents to a .187 batting average against at two levels in 2010. However, after not pitching in an official game since he threw a shutout inning to wrap up the Clearwater season on September 5th, Diekman was unable to record an out as all seven batters he faced reached base, six with hits, one on an error. Diekman was charged with 5 earned runs in the outing. Diekman had spent time at instructional ball from

McGwire Stays Phony, Despite Admitting Drug Use

Mark McGwire made an effort to publicly come clean today, admitting to the world that he took performance enhancing drugs during his playing career. Steroids and human growth hormones were among the drugs that McGwire admitted to using. MLB Network featured a one on one interview with Bob Costas and McGwire on Monday evening. The broadcast was virtually garbage, thanks to McGwire. Ahead is a list of quotes from McGwire's interview. McGwire repeatedly stated his point of view that there were no dishonorable intentions involved when taking steroids, and that he was merely using them as a means to recover from varying ailments. When asked if he felt like he cheated... "As I look back now...I can see how people would say that. As far as the talent goes and the hand-eye coordination, the ability, the genetics I was given...I don't see it." "I did not take this for any strength purposes." Denial. Read on for similar B.S. He whined about the abuse he's taken at

Bubby Rossman's long awaited MLB debut

Eight years after he initially signed a professional contract with the Dodgers and a five-year stretch playing away from affiliated ball, Bubby Rossman became a major leaguer on Wednesday. Added as a substitute for pitcher Kyle Gibson, who is restricted from travel to Canada for the Phillies' series in Toronto, due to his medical inability to be vaccinated from COVID-19, Rossman took the mound for the first time in the majors. Rossman, who was a 22nd round draft selection in 2014 had pitched in 200 professional games before his one-inning outing in the Phillies' 8-2 loss to the Blue Jays. In 27 appearances with Double-A Reading this year, the 30-year-old right-hander has performed well, tallying a 2-2 record with a save, a 3.32 ERA and a .200 batting average against.   The embedded video below features a media session with Rossman from prior to opening day this year, in which the California native discusses his journey through independent baseball and back to affiliated ball wi