Don't look now, but one Phillies farm team is making a serious push towards the postseason. At 67-50, the Phillies Double-A Reading affiliate leads the Eastern Division over Trenton by 2.5 games after securing their 10th straight win on Thursday night, 3-0. It isn't really surprising that this is happening either. This team has been packed with prospects all season and just got more of them at the trade deadline, one of which had his best start of the season on Thursday.
"The atmosphere is unreal," said Fightin Phils starter Nick Pivetta. "You can feel it in the morality of the guys here and just to be a part of that, to be traded to such a great organization to a team like this has just been awesome and I'm so thankful for it.
Numbers-wise, Reading is first in the Eastern League in on-base percentage (.340), slugging percentage (.409), home runs (84), doubles (230) and runs scored (550). The team's overall plate discipline also comes in first with 398 walks on the season compared to 744 strikeouts, which is second least in the league.
In Thursday's win over Harrisburg, right-hander Nick Pivetta got his first Double-A win. Acquired by the Phillies in exchange for closer Jonathan Papelbon, Pivetta's first start with Reading was one to forget, allowing seven runs over five innings. He improved over his next outing, holding New Britain to two runs in five innings of work. Well, last night, Pivetta had his best game of the year against Harrisburg, his former team. The 22-year-old scattered three hits over 5 2/3 shutout innings, while walking one and striking out eight. The new Phillies prospect was named the Player of the Game and commented about his first win against his former teammates following the final out.
"Hvaing that team behind you is always great, the crowd here is amazing, I love playing here in Baseballtown. I just came out tonight, had a game plan and stuck to it."
"I've known those guys [in Harrisburg] for years. Playing against them has just been awesome. They're a great team, so having an outing like that is something special. It was really weird at first, but I kind of settled in after that."
Reading got their first run in the bottom of the fourth. Brock Stassi and Andrew Knapp hit back-to-back singles with one out. Destin Hood drove in Stassi with a single of his own, that he tried to stretch into a double, to make it a 1-0 lead.
With runners on first and second with just one out in the seventh, center fielder Nick Williams smacked a single to center, scoring Angelo Mora from second to make it a 2-0 Fightins lead. In the eighth, Reading got their final run off the bat of their hottest hitter, catcher Andrew Knapp. Knapp belted a solo home run to right field to give Reading a 3-0 lead. The 23-year-old backstop is now hitting .411 on the season, .610 (25-for-41) over the last 10 games.
After Pivetta departed from the game, Ryan O'Sullivan, Tom Windle and closer Stephen Shackleford combined to throw 3 1/3 hitless frames to seal the victory. Since being moved from the rotation to the bullpen, pitching prospect Tom Windle has excelled. In 13 games spanning 18 innings out of the pen, he's 2-0 with a 1.50 ERA, tallying 14 strikeouts and walking six.
The Fightin' Phils look to continue their hot play on Friday night in Trenton against the Thunder, Double-A affiliate of the Yankees. Zach Eflin (6-6, 3.67) will get the nod for Reading while Trenton will oppose with left-hander Caleb Smith (8-6, 3.84).
