Down on the Phillies Pharm: Lehigh Valley Stages Late Comeback

A ninth inning rally results in big win for Lehigh Valley Iron Pigs on the road

Down 2-1, Cedric Hunter drove in two runs with one out in the ninth inning to give the Lehigh Valley Iron Pigs a two run lead. The former major league outfielder’s only hit of the night brought home Nick Williams and Andrew Knapp, while Brock Stassi held up at third base.

Will Venable then drove in Stassi from third, while Hunter was thrown out at the plate after a relay throw from center to shortstop to home.

Edward Mujica closed out the bottom of the ninth to seal his 14th save of the year.

J.P. Crawford went hitless again, but he did walk twice, and was caught stealing for the first time in Triple-A.

Nick Williams was also hitless, although his ninth inning walk resulted in him crossing the plate thanks to Hunter’s big hit.

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Andrew Knapp had back-to-back multi-hit games for the first time this season. The catcher singled twice and scored in the ninth inning as well.

First baseman Brock Stassi had a solo home run in the fifth inning for Lehigh Valley and gave the ‘Pigs an insurance run in the ninth.

Outfielder Darin Ruf was 1-4 with two strikeouts, but he did gain an outfield assist by helping throw out a runner at home. Ruf’s throw from left was relayed by the third baseman Angelys Nina to nail Nicky Delmonico at home plate.

James Russell got the start Thursday night for the Phillies Triple-A affiliate, going five scoreless innings. He gave up only three hits and a walk while striking out four Knights.

Severino Gonzalez blew the Phillies one-run lead in his two innings of work while striking out three batters. Gonzalez was charged with his second blown save of the season.

Luis Garcia earned the win for the Iron Pigs despite throwing two wild pitches that allowed the Knights to score. Garcia is 3-1 with a 3.13 ERA after being sent to the minors this season.

Mujica’s 14th save of the year leads all International League pitchers.

Zach Eflin (5-1; 2.81 ERA) will start Friday for the squad from Bacon, USA while former Marlin’s starter Jacob Turner (3-3; 5.50) gets the ball for the Knights on his home mound.

Next: Reading

Jake Fox and Dylan Cozens each had four hits in an offensive showdown between the minor league squads for the Phillies and Red Sox. The Reading Fightin Phil’s first baseman Fox went 4-4 with two home runs, four runs scored, three RBIs, and a walk.

Rising prospect Dylan Cozens was 4-6 with two doubles, a run scored and a strikeout.

Backup catcher Joel Fisher had himself a game in place of Jorge Alfaro, hitting a grand slam in the fifth inning to break the score open for the Fightin’ Phils. He finished with six critical RBI’s Thursday night.

KC Sema had two RBIs and two walks, while Angelo Mora was 2-4 with an RBI in the eight and nine holes respectively.

Missing from the hit party was one of the Phillies top prospects Roman Quinn, who finished 1-6 with a strikeout. He also had two errors in the outfield and was caught stealing for the sixth time this season, making him 24-30 on stolen base attempts. Quinn has stolen at least 29 bases in each of his five minor league seasons, despite missing time after suffering a broken wrist and a torn achillies tendon within months of each other in 2013.

Jesmuel Valentin and Rhys Hoskins both were 0-5 with a walk, as both were also missing from the 14 hit night for Reading.

The Red Sox third ranked prospect Andrew Benintendi had two singles and scored a run for Portland. He also flied out to center to end the game in the ninth. Boston’s 18th ranked prospect Wendell Rijo was 0-4 with a strikeout.

Nick Pevetta, who was acquired in the Jonathan Papelbon trade last year, earned his fifth win of the year despite allowing seven runs (five earned) in five innings. He struck out six and walked one in his ninth decision of the year.

Joely Rodriguez pitched two shutout innings with two strikeouts, but Reiner Roibal allowed the final two runs on four hits in his two innings of work. The Cuban right-hander’s ERA is at a perfect 10.00 this year working out of the bullpen. The four hits allowed by Roibal were the most he’s allowed since April 26th when he allowed six in 3.1 innings.

Ricardo Pinto (1-2) pitches for Reading on Friday against the New Hampshire Fisher Cats as he looks for his first win since May 12th. He was pulled from his last outing after just 1.1 innings. John Anderson (2-4) starts for New Hampshire

Next: Lakewood