Down on the Phillies Pharm: Jake Thompson Struggles Again

The Iron Pigs fell once again despite an offensive outburst from the top of the lineup.

The Iron Pigs offense showed up once again, but the pitching fell apart.

Top prospect Jake Thompson could not get out of the fourth inning after allowing eight runs, six of which were earned, off nine hits and three walks. Thompson goes to 3-5 with a 4.23 ERA, which is certainly not where the Phillies hoped he would be.

The bullpen gave the offense a chance to come back, hurling 5 1/3 shutout innings.

J.P. Crawford finally had himself a game, his first major offensive burst since being called up to Lehigh Valley. He went 2-5 and scored two runs for the Iron Pigs, raising his batting average to .195 with Lehigh Valley.

Cody Asche also showed improvement at the plate as he works his way back from a strained oblique. The left fielder went 2-5 with an RBI double in the first inning to drive in Crawford while also scoring two runs of his own.

Andrew Knapp drove in Asche with an RBI single to left field and also came home to score on a Cedric Hunter RBI single.

First baseman Brock Stassi was 2-3 with two RBIs, a walk, and a strikeout. He also stole his first base of the season.

The only error of the game for Lehigh Valley came on a Cody Asche fielding play in left field, which allowed two runs to score in the fourth inning. That error would be the difference in the two run game.

Ben Lively will make his second career start at the Triple-A level since being called up last week to replace the injured Mark Appel in the rotation. Lively is 7-0 with a 1.95 ERA this season between Reading and Lehigh Valley. He struck out five batters in seven two-run innings.

Next: Reading