Skip to main content

Clippers Down IronPigs, Tie Series

By
Heading into game 2 of the Triple-A level International League championship series, Lehigh Valley was on a remarkable roll, winning 8 straight games and appearing unstoppable. However, it was the Columbus Clippers (Indians affiliate) who rallied late to notch a 4-1 victory over the IronPigs before a home crowd of 5,308 at Huntington Park.

Bump was cruising along with a 1-0 lead, thanks to a solo blast by first baseman Tagg Bozied in the 5th inning. Having allowed just 3 runners to reach base through the opening 7 frames of the contest, IronPigs starter Nate Bump's success ran out in the 8th as the Clippers broke out for 4 runs and held the lead to tie the best-of-five series at 1 game apiece.

After looking dominant through much of the game, the wheels came off for the Penn State product, Bump, in the 8th inning. He served up a lead-off single to Columbus shortstop Juan Diaz, but bounced back to strike out catcher Luke Carlin. Second baseman Argenis Reyes then stroked a double to right field, moving Diaz to third base. Lefty reliever Mike Zagurski then entered the game to thwart the rally.

Zagurski intentionally walked pinch hitter Jerad Head to load the bases and set up a force play around the diamond. Right fielder Travis Buck drove a fly ball to left field for a sacrifice fly that scored Diaz and tied the game at 1.

IronPigs shortstop Freddy Galvis kept the game tied with a diving stop on a single by Columbus third baseman Jared Goedert, to keep the ball in the infield. But Zagurski then uncorked a wild pitch while facing first baseman Beau Mills that allowed the Clippers to take the lead. Mills, Cleveland's 1st round draft pick from 2007, put his own stamp on things when he singled to bring in both Reyes and Head to cap the scoring.

Right-hander Mitch Talbot, who made 28 Major League starts a year ago and 11 starts this year for the Indians, looked sharp, going the distance for the complete game victory. Talbot, 2-0 in the postseason, struck out 7 and walked none while allowing just the lone run against the Lehigh Valley offense.

Highly regarded Phillies prospect Domonic Brown went 0-for-4 in the game, including a strike out that ended the game, lowering his postseason batting average to .067.

The remainder of the series will be played at Allentown's Coca Cola Park. Game 3 is slated for 7:05 PM on Thursday, while game 4 is scheduled for Friday evening at 7:05. Game 5, if necessary, will be played Saturday at 6:35 PM.

________________________________________________

You can follow PhoulBallz on Twitter by clicking HERE.

Also connect with PhoulBallz on Facebook by clicking HERE
Labels:

Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

Lidge Shaky, T-Mac Honored in Trenton

By
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. ...
Post a Comment
Read more

Jason Knapp Q&A

By
PhoulBallz .com was fortunate enough to meet with Phillies prospect Jason Knapp just one day after he caught the attention of the baseball world with his 7 shut out innings, 14 strike out performance against the Indians' Lake County team. - I asked Jason, the Lakewood BlueClaw , for some thoughts about his big game... I had pretty good command of three pitches (fastball, curve, change up). I was on the same page with my catcher, D'Arnaud , and I ended up, ya know, I felt pretty good. - In a great performance like that, how much credit goes to Travis D'Arnaud , the catcher? More than you might expect, definitely. I didn't shake him off once. He told me what to throw and I do what I'm told. And if it works out, a lot of the credit goes to the catcher. - Does the lack of run support (Lakewood has scored 3 total runs in his 3 starts), in your few starts, increase your stress level, or enhance your focus? No, I just try to go out and do my job every outing. Ya know, we...
5 comments
Read more

Eric B Needs to be Cut (and My Name is Rakim)

By
While the Phillies are on a hot streak this month, one player on the team is not. Eric Bruntlett is 1-for-12 in July. Since the start of May, Bruntlett's apex in batting average has been .167 on June 14th. Bruntlett's ineptitude can be tolerated no longer. Get rid of this guy NOW! Eric B. is the 2009 Endy Chavez. Remember Endy...the guy who in 2005 managed just 2 hits in his final 42 games played as a Phillie? That is about the sort of output the Phillies are getting from Bruntlett, and it's time to fix this void. Julio Lugo was designated for assignment last week by the Red Sox and is expected to become a free agent. The Metropolitans are rumored to be interested. Why wouldn't the Phillies be interested in a guy who could surely outhit Bruntlett? Lugo was hitting .284 through 37 games played this season with Boston. Suspended Lehigh Valley IronPig Pablo Ozuna is eligible to return next Wednesday. Ozuna is batting .294 through 51 games at triple A. Miguel Cairo is also...
6 comments
Read more