By Brandon Apter, Sports Talk Philly editor 
Four Philadelphia Phillies minor league affiliates made it to the postseason, but now only two of them remain in play after Friday night's action.
The Lakewood Blueclaws earned a sweep over Hagerstown and advance to the finals, Reading avoided the sweep with an offensive outburst at home while Lehigh Valley was trounced and eliminated by Scranton Wilkes/Barre. Meanwhile, the GCL Phillies lost in the finals earlier this week to the GCL Cardinals team.
Here's a quick recap of Friday night's action:
Scranton Wilkes/Barre 11, Lehigh Valley 3 (SWB wins series 3-0)
Lack of offense was a big issue for the Ironpigs in this series as they were held scoreless through the first 21.2 innings of play. Friday night seemed to be a night that Lehigh Valley had going for them as International League Pitcher of the Month for August, Phil Klein, was on the hill trying to help avoid elimination. Thing didn't go as planned as the Railriders jumped ahead 3-0 in the first and never looked back, earning the sweep over the Ironpigs in the Governor's Cup Semifinals.
Klein lasted only 3.1 innings, giving up 10 runs (eight earned) on seven hits. The bullpen only allowed one run the rest of the way, but it was too little too late for the pitching end of the game at the point down big.
The Ironpigs scored their first run of the series in the fourth, courtesy of an RBI-single off the bat of Jesmuel Valentin to score Cam Perkins. In the sixth, they scored two more to get within eight runs. Lehigh Valley loaded the bases with no outs and it was Valentin who drove in the pair of runs with a two-run single.
In the series, Nick Williams went 2-for-9 with five strikeouts while J.P. Crawford and Andrew Knapp each went 1-for-12. Cody Asche was the only player in the series not to tally a hit. Offensively, the Ironpigs could've used Darin Ruf's bat, but he was brought up to Philadelphia when rosters expanded.
Reading 13, Trenton 5 (TRN leads series 2-1)
The Fightin' Phils play a whole different game when they are at home. During the regular season, they posted a 51-20 record at home compared to 38-32 on the road. The bats came out on Friday night as Reading avoided elimination with a 13-5 victory.
Jorge Alfaro was the story of the night, going 4-for-5 with two homers, three runs scored and three RBIs. He's hitting .462 during the series thus far. Rhys Hoskins and Harold Martinez each hit home runs as well while Dylan Cozens finished the night with a double, run scored and an RBI, raising his postseason average to .455.
On the pitching side of things, Friday was an interesting situation for Reading, who sent Elniery Garcia out for the start in his Double-A debut in a do-or-die postseason game. Garcia didn't look flustered, giving up just two earned runs in six innings of work, striking out four and walking one.
The series continues on Saturday night in Reading as Tyler Viza looks to keep Reading's playoffs alive. Viza, 21, wnt 10-8 with a 3.95 ERA between Clearwater and Reading this season. He'll be opposed by Trenton right-hander Caleb Smith, a 2013 14th round pick of the Yankees. He went 3-5 with a 3.96 ERA this season in Double-A mostly as a relief pitcher
Lakewood 5, Hagerstown 2 (LWD wins series 2-0)
Unlike Reading and Lehigh Valley, the Blueclaws series was best-of-three and they wrapped it up on Friday night on the road with a 5-2 win, punching their ticket to the South Atlantic League Finals, which begin on Monday. Their opponent is yet to be decided as the Rome Braves and Charleston Riverdogs play a decisive game three on Saturday night. If the Riverdogs win, it will mark the third Yankees affiliate that a Phillies affiliate is matched up against this postseason.
Jose Taveras led the way on the mound for Lakewood, pitching seven innings of two-run ball, striking out four. Offensively, Mark Laird went 4-for-4 out of the lead-off spot, scoring three runs while Damek Tomscha and Wilson Garcia each drove in two runs a piece. Tomscha made it a three-run game in the seventh with a two-run triple, providing Lakewood with some much needed insurance runs.
The South Atlantic League Finals start on Monday, with Lakewood scheduled to play the first two games on the road in a best-of-five series for the championship.
