Bunts and Balks (8/15)

Brett Myers missed his scheduled, one-inning, rehab start on Saturday, as a result of a left eye injury. Myers will return to pitching, as soon as his vision improves. Myers told GM Ruben Amaro that he was hit with a baseball thrown by his four-year-old son. Later, Myers amended the story, indicating that he had injured himself getting out of the back of his wife's Escalade. (On Friday night, he had gone out to dinner with his wife, two friends, and the nanny. Myers was in the back seat, when the nanny drove everyone home.) The cloudy circumstances surrounding the unfortunate injury raise an obvious question: Does the nanny get paid extra for chauffeuring everyone around like that, or is it considered part of her regular duties? Drew Carpenter was bombed on Saturday night, as the Lehigh Valley IronPigs (AAA) lost to the Buffalo Bisons, 7-5. The FeHogs pulled within two runs in the ninth, and had the tying run on base, but old pal Jim Ed Warden ended the LV threat. Carpenter surrendered all seven Bisons runs, in six innings (eleven hits (!), one walk/five whiffs). Carpenter's ninety-eight pitch outing increased his ERA to 3.20, and his record fell to 9-4. The IronPigs and Reading Phillies (AA) swapped catchers, with Tuffy Gosewisch moving to AAA, and Kevin Nelson returning to AA. Not sure why this move happened. Do the Phillies want to see Gosewisch at AAA, to evaluate whether to place him on the 40-Man Roster? Is LV's starting catcher, Paul Hoover, injured in some manner? If not, won't he continue to get the bulk of the work? Do the Phils want Gosewisch to catch prospect Joe Savery, who has had considerably more success with him behind the plate? Is the move all about Nelson's total inability to hit AAA pitching? With Gosewisch returning from injury, is he better-suited for a backup role (to Hoover), than a time-splitting/starting role (with Tim Kennelly in AA)? No answers here, yet. On Friday night, the Reading Phillies removed top prospect Kyle Drabek from the game, with two outs in the fifth inning. I was initially excited to see this, as it appeared that the Phillies had put Drabek on a lower pitch limit. Unfortunately, Drabek was removed after throwing 100 pitches. Drabek has struggled mightily, as of late, and it appears that arm fatigue may be a factor. Drabek was charged with two runs, on five hits and two walks (seven whiffs). The Reading Phillies won the first game of their Saturday night doubleheader, in walkoff style, beating the Binghampton Mets, 4-3. In the seven-inning game, the R-Phils scored their last three runs in the bottom of the seventh. Catcher Kevin Nelson hit a solo home run in the third inning, and pinch-hitting catcher Tim Kennelly hit a game-winning two-run single. Mike Cisco got the start for the R-Phils, and was touched for a two-run homer in the first inning. But Cisco settled down, allowing only one additional run, in his six innings (eight hits, two walks/three whiffs). Scott Mathieson pitched a scoreless top of the seventh, and picked up the win. The R-Phils fell in the second game of the doubleheader, 4-0. Not surprising, as the R-Phils employed a "bullpen start", with recently-demoted Alex Concepcion pitching the first three innings (three hits, two runs, one walk/two whiffs). B.J. Rosenberg pitched a scoreless frame. The R-Phils were held to only three hits (one double, two singles) and one walk. The Clearwater Threshers (A) used strong pitching to defeat the Tampa Yankees on Friday, 5-3. Edgar Garcia had his best start of the season, allowing three runs (two earned), in six innings (four hits, two walks/three whiffs). Tristan Crawford pitched out of a self-created jam, in a scoreless seventh (two hits, one walk). Michael Schwimer had little trouble in his two scoreless frames, giving up only one hit (four whiffs!), in collecting his sixteenth save. The Threshers got more strong pitching on Saturday, but lost a pitcher's duel to the Tampa Yankees, 2-1, in eleven innings. Drew Naylor had a strong start, permitting only one run, in six innings (six hits, two walks/four whiffs). Walter Tejeda followed with two and one-third scoreless innings. Carlos Monasterios stranded a runner he inherited from Tejeda in the ninth, threw a scoreless tenth, but allowed the winning run in the eleventh. (Brett Myers was expected to make his one-inning rehab start in this game.)