Ranger was in town and the park was rather empty. Still, plenty of happenings last night over on the East Side of Allentown. And, the IronPigs got back to their winning ways, which is always appreciated.
UPDATE: The Phillies have called up Weston Wilson. They love his right-handed bat so much that they don’t care if he’s not hitting (see below). Rather than send Cal Stevenson back, they have DFA’d Kody Clemens. I’d love to have Kody here with the IronPigs but I’d also love him to have the opportunity to play somewhere in the big leagues. We wish him luck.
About Last Night
- A 7-3 win, but it wasn’t that close. Guillo Zuñiga being left off the lineup card is an egregious error. Somewhere Hoby Milner nods knowingly, sending his thoughts to Jose Cuas.
- Ranger pitched well, didn’t always get the most help from his defense, but they made the plays that mattered. He sat 91-92 for most of the evening and only got to 59 pitches. Would have liked to see more on both accounts but he got through 5 full innings with no runs, 2 hits and 2 walks and his ability to command the strike zone was evident on this group of Triple-A Columbus hitters. Ranger is in line to start for us again on Sunday, but there are things that could change. See below.
- Otto Kemp got hit by a pitch four times last night. Why do they hate Otto Kemp? There was no kind of emotion or yelling even after the fourth time. Did he know he was crowding the plate or that there was some other strategy at work? Unknown. He still got a double and scored three runs so I’m not sure Columbus was successful whatever they were trying to do.
- Buddy Kennedy and Oscar Mercado also had three hits apiece. Mercado up to .323 on the season with an .877 OPS.
- OF Justin Crawford had the night off from facing a lefty prospect, but that’s going to be tough to avoid in this series, so I look for him back out there tonight.
- The debut of the “fog cannons.” It’s cool I guess, and they seemed to work fine unlike those “pigeon burners” they have that shoot the flames sometimes. More like, “steam jets” though.
- Kemp and Kennedy at the corners is the “corners of adventure.” Sometimes it’s good and sometimes it’s bad and it’s always an adventure.
- INF/OF Weston Wilson is also with us on rehab (oblique). But, he’s not hitting great. “How long will he be here?” Until he hits. Maybe if he brings back his usual walk-up song from the last two years?
- RHP Seth Johnson, the originally scheduled starter, worked in relief and pitched two scoreless with two walks. Given his pitch mix, many have been thinking his conversion to a relief role was in order. The results were good, it didn’t feel terribly dominant in the moment. That’s something to watch.
- The IronPigs are 15-7 and 1.0 game-back in the league standings behind Jacksonville. They are 5-5 in their last 10 games, on a 2-game winning streak, and have a +19 run differential.
Resources
Here are some other articles to get you ready for the game tonight, if you haven’t already seen:
- The Roster Post has been updated with yesterday’s moves
- The Mick Abel Checklist is available for tonight’s game.
- The Series Preview will answer your questions about Columbus (AAA-CLE).
- The New Food Post has not been updated yet.
Game Day!
First pitch is at 6:45PM; Gates (Center/East) at 5:30PM; Club (West) at 5:15PM
Wednesday means “Tacos and Tallboys” with taco specials in the plaza and 16oz cans of select beer throughout the stadium (they tell me). It’s also ’80s night.
RHP Mick Abel (1-2, 3.80) vs *LHP Doug Nikhazy (1-0, 3.44) *#21-ranked prospect
Weather: 72 and sunny at game time, with 4MPH winds. Might dip as low at 62 by the end of the game so bring a sweatshirt.
Looking Forward
Nothing official, but the plan seems to be for OF Brandon Marsh to join the IronPigs on rehab (hamstring) tomorrow rather than fly to Chicago with the Phillies. The plan in place is for Ranger to start for us again on Sunday, and I’d imagine Seth Johnson will be available to take some innings that day. Watch if Johnson appears in relief before Sunday. Monitor the forearm tightness of Cristopher Sanchez in Philadelphia. It’s an ominous symptom, and while we hope for the best, he could still need some time off, which might impact the Phillies’ plans for Ranger.
Saturday looks like the biggest weather risk for this series. Tomorrow and Friday appear to be outstanding nights for baseball. I’d like to see better attendance than the 5,384 announced last night. Even up in Portland, ME where the R-Phils lost a heartbreaker they announced 6,868. Perhaps it highlights our dependence on groups.
The Phantoms open their playoff series tonight in Wilkes-Barre. They will have a home game on Friday.
See you at the park,
@Kram207
Featured Image by Cheryl Pursell. It has been cropped to fit the space.