Phillies minor league report: IronPigs swept on walk-off bunt, BlueClaws rally in ninth

Three of the Phillies' farm teams were in action Thursday while the club was on its way to a 6-2 win in St. Louis. Here's how they fared…

Scranton/Wilkes-Barre 5, Lehigh Valley 4 (F/11): With a runner at third, the RailRiders' Tyler Wade laid down a walk-off bunt to complete a sweep of the IronPigs.

DH Dean Anna tripled to lead off the game, then scored on LF Danny Ortiz's ground out to second two at-bats later.

1B Joey Meneses, who went 2-for-4 at the plate, hit a solo home run in the fourth – his fifth of the season -and Ortiz knocked in another run in the eighth when he singled with runners at the corners to put the IronPigs up 4-2.

The lead wouldn't last long.

RailRiders 1B Mike Ford hit a two-run homer off LH Austin Davis to tie the game in the bottom of the eighth, and Scranton/Wilkes-Barre's pitching kept the IronPigs off the board until Wade brought home LF Zach Zehner for the winning run.

Davis, a 12th-round pick by the Phillies in 2014, completed the eighth after RH Jake Thompson gave up a single to C Kyle Higashioka to start off the inning. Davis was charged with a blown save.

RH Pedro Beato pitched a scoreless ninth, allowing two hits, and RH Jacob Waguespack (L,0-4) pitched the 10th and 11th.

RH Tom Eshelman pitched five innings in the start. He struck out two and allowed two runs off six hits.

Lehigh Valley (20-17) is off to Syracuse next for a three-game series with the Chiefs (Washington affiliate). Game 1 is Friday at 6:35 p.m.

Lehigh Valley 110 100 010 00 —4 9 0
Scranton/WB 000 020 020 01 — 5 12 0

The Fightin Phils were off Thursday and will be in Erie Friday to begin a four-game series against the Seawolves (Detroit affiliate) at 6:05 p.m.

Reading (14-22) is 4-6 in its last 10 games and 5-9 on the road so far this season. Erie (15-23), meanwhile, is 5-5 in its last 10 and 4-11 at home.

The Seawolves will be sending RH Sandy Baez to the mound Friday night. The 24-year old is 0-2 with a 4.23 ERA, and has 30 strikeouts and 13 walks through seven starts.

The Fightin Phils had yet to announce a starter as of Thursday night.

Palm Beach 8, Clearwater 3: RH Mauricio Llovera was tagged for five runs in the fourth, and the Threshers dropped the series finale to the visiting Cardinals.

Llovera (L, 2-3) threw 64 pitches in 3 2/3 innings Thursday, and ran into little trouble through the first three innings. He was pulled in the fourth after giving up a double to 2B Jose Martinez just one at-bat after 1B Juan Yepez capped off the Cardinals' rally with a three-run homer.

RF Adam Haseley went 2-for-4 at the plate for the Threshers, and 1B Darick Hall hit a solo home run – his 11th of the year – in the fourth.

Clearwater (16-24) will now go on the road for a three-game series against the Florida Fire Frogs (Atlanta affiliate) that begins Friday at 6:31 p.m.

Palm Beach 000 502 001 — 8 13 0
Clearwater 000 120 000 — 3 9 0

Lakewood 4, Greensboro 1: 1B Gregori Rivero hit an RBI triple to kickstart a four-run rally in the ninth, and the BlueClaws took the series opener from the host Grasshoppers.

LH Will Stewart pitched six innings of one-run ball. He allowed five hits and struck out seven in the no decision.

LH Jonathan Hennigan, RH Julian Garcia (W, 1-1), and RH Addison Russ (S, 7) combined to shutout the last three innings.

The BlueClaws (21-17) will be back in action against the Miami affiliate Friday at 7:00 p.m. for Game 2 of a four-game series.

Lakewood 000 000 004 — 4 10 2
Greensboro 100 000 000 — 1 6 3