MINOR LEAGUE REPORT
By: Larry Shenk
Tags: Baseball, Sports, Philadelphia Phillies

Damon Jones (Nathan Ray file photo)

Damon Jones fans 12 in AA debut. Reading-Trenton battle for first-half crown comes down to Tuesday night.

Lehigh Valley, International League North Division

**IronPigs (32–34) were swept by the Columbus Clippers, 3–1, before a third straight 10,100 sell out. All three Columbus runs were solo homers, 12 long balls in the three-game series . . . LV two games under .500 for first time this season . . . Day off today . . . Eight-game road trip begins Tuesday night in Toledo.

Pitching: Starter Enyel De Los Santos (3–3) was the loser, 6–6–3–3–1–6, 3 HR (back-to-back in the second inning, the other in the sixth inning), hit batter . . . Fernando Salas, 1–0–0–0–1–1 . . . Austin Davis, 2–0–0–0–0–5.

Hitting: Held to three singles and three doubles . . . Six different players had one hit each.

Reading, Eastern League Eastern Division

**Fightin Phils (38–28) edged the Senators in Harrisburg, 2–1, behind the brilliant pitching of Damon Jones making his AA debut . . . The crucial victory kept Reading .002 percentage points behind Trenton in a battle for the division’s first-half crown. It all comes down to the final game on Tuesday night. The Fightins can capture the title with a win and a Trenton loss. A Trenton win would clinch it for the Thunder . . . Reading begins a road trip in Akron on Tuesday night while Trenton is home vs. Richmond.

Pitching: Jones AA debut, 5–1–1–1–1–12, a career-high in strikeouts. The lone hit was a fourth-inning single which set up the Senators lone run; struck out seven of the last eight hitters he faced. The 25-year-old lefty was an 18th round selection in 2017 out of Washington State. In 11 starts at Clearwater, he was 4–3 with a 1.54 ER. He led the league in strikeouts (88 in 58.1 innings) . . . WP: Jakob Hernandez (4–0), 2–0–0–0–0–1 . . . SV: Addison Russ (9), 1–1–0–0–0–1, striking out the last batter with the tying run on first base via a lead-off single.

Hitting: C Henri Lartigue homered (#3) in the second inning for Reading’s first run . . . Tied at 1–1, RF Mickey Moniak drew a four-pitch walk leading off the eighth inning and scored the winning run on a double by 1B Darick Hall. In the bottom of that inning, Moniak’s leaping catch robbed SS Luis Sardinas of a game-tying home run.

Clearwater, Florida State League North Division

**Threshers (36–30) were not scheduled as part of the league’s three-day All-Star Game break . . . Clearwater, second-place finisher in the first half, begins second half tonight in Bradenton.

Lakewood, South Atlantic League North Division

**BlueClaws (29–41) swept a four-game series from the Tourists in Asheville with a 6–5 win, their fifth straight win to close out the league’s first half . . . Road trip ended 5–2 . . . Three-day All-Star Game break . . . Next game, 7:05 Thursday night vs. West Virginia Power.

Pitching: ND for starter Tyler McKay, 4.1–4–3–3–1–4, HR, hit batter, two wild pitches . . . Rafi Gonell picked up the win (1–0) . . . SV: Luis Carrasco (2), striking out the one batter he faced.

Hitting: Tied a 1-all, the Claws scored three times in fifth on a bases-clearing double by C Rafael Marchan . . . 2B Cole Stobbe belted a two-run homer (#7) in the ninth for a 6–3 lead. Asheville RF Cade Harris hit his second homer of the day, this one a two-run blast to cut the lead to 6–5 . . . Marchan, RF Hunter Stovall and LF Ben Pelletier each had 2 hits.

Williamsport, New York-Penn League Pinkney Division

**Crosscutters (1–1) were rained out at home against the West Virginia Black Bears . . . Teams will play a 5:05 p.m. doubleheader today (7-inning games).

Gulf Coast League

**Season opens June 24 at Carpenter Complex . . . Phillies again will field two teams, East and West.