Skip to main content

IronPigs Win IL Championship Series Opener

A three-run homerun by Brandon Moss in the opening frame was more than enough offense for the IronPigs pitching staff, as four pitchers combined to hold the Columbus Clippers to 2 runs on 7 hits earning Lehigh Valley a victory in game 1 of the Triple-A International League Championship Series.

The long ball by Moss, his 3rd of the postseason, came off of Columbus All-Star Zach McAllister, who spent some time with the parent club, Cleveland, this year. The right-handed McAllister lasted 8 innings, but took the loss.

The lefty batting Moss, who has seen Major League action as a member of the Red Sox, had the table set for his big blast in the top of the 1st inning by 1-out singles from Scott Podsednik and Kevin Frandsen. Moss, the IronPigs' clean up hitter who turns 28-years-old later this week, then mashed a deep drive to straight away center that put Lehigh Valley ahead for good.

Lehigh Valley added another run an inning later. An RBI ground out by the left fielder Podsednik brought home catcher Erik Kratz to put the IronPigs up 4-0.

Lehigh Valley starter Scott Mathieson, who has also pitched in the big leagues this year with the Phillies, earned the win with 5 innings of work in which he surrendered 5 hits and 2 runs, while walking 2 and striking out 2.

Left-hander Joe Savery tossed 2 scoreless innings and righty Phillippe Aumont added a scoreless frame to hold the Clippers to just 2 runs through 8 innings of play.

First baseman Cody Overbeck smacked a solo homerun to lead off the 9th. Kratz then doubled to chase McAllister from the game. Lefty Kelvin De La Cruz came on in relief and thwarted the rally.

Righty hurler Justin De Fratus had a shaky bottom of the 9th inning, as he had difficulty locating throwing strikes. The Phillies' 11th round draft pick from 2007, who is well regarded for his accuracy, struggled with his command, issuing a pair of free passes with 1 down before retiring Clippers center fielder Tim Fedroff on a fly out. Things got more interesting when short stop Juan Diaz stroked a single which loaded the bases. However, De Fratus bounced back and struck out first baseman Jared Goedert slider to earn his 2nd save of the postseason.

Outfielder Domonic Brown, another occasional Phillie, went 1-for-4 in the contest to raise his dismal postseason batting average to .091.

Columbus, the defending IL champs, will host game 2 on Wednesday. The series then moves to Lehigh Valley's Coca Cola Park for the remaining games in the best-of-five title series.

_____________________________________________________

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

PhoulBallz Q&A with Mike Stutes

Mike Stutes completes "The Reading Phils Mike Tri-fecta" over three days, here on PhoulBallz.com. Stutes, a 22 year old, was an 11th round selection by the Phillies in the 2008 amateur draft. Stutes, a right handed starting pitcher, helped lead Oregon State to the College World Series championship in both 2006 and 2007. Stutes and teammate Vance Worley are the first players to begin a season at Reading the year after being drafted since Pat Burrell did it in 1999. Stutes was the Phils' minor league pitcher of the month in August '08, when he went 4-1 with a 1.72 ERA in 6 starts. Check out my Q&A with the third Mike below. Can I get you to talk about the coaching staff and how they help you deal with ups and downs? They've been real positive with me. I started out good and then I hit a rough patch. They've stuck with me through it all. I haven't heard any negative words from them. Every day they try to come out, work with me, try to get me turned around...

Jason Knapp Q&A

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...

Yankees Fans Misled By Pepsi Promotion

**** Today, New York Yankees fans attended a Pepsi promotion in Times Square hoping for chances to win opening day tickets to the new stadium, but the tickets, which were difficult to track down due to poor organization on Pepsi's part, were actually for a game in June. Furthermore, the 250 pairs that were promised were actually only 100 pairs. The fans, who were made to sprint through traffic over multiple city blocks when locations for the promotion changed, quickly turned against the soda brand by pooring out their beverages and chanting anti-Pepsi phrases. Yankees fans are even threatening a boycott of Pepsi. An appearance by Yankee great Goose Gossage could not even settle the angry mob, as he had to be whisked away, as a precaution, according to the Daily News . Ooo , I'd hate to see what "the worst fans in sports" (Philadelphia fans) would have done to their free Pepsi cans and beloved reliever in that situation. Because this happened in a non-Philly city, th...