The cold breeze wasn’t enough to cool off the hot-hitting Buffalo Bison, and the home-town ‘Pigs lost both ends of an evening doubleheader.

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As we whittle away at the remaining starters who could join Philadelphia for Monday evening’s start against Pittsburgh, Ethan Martin took the mound and eliminated himself from contention.  Of course, he was eliminated by virtue of starting pitching, but he struggled with his control as well.  That was the “book” on Ethan; he’s got great “stuff” but will sometimes suffer if he can’t locate the pitches properly.  This seemed to be the case Saturday in the early game, as many of his off-speed offerings were wild-high.  And it wasn’t just that the high off-speed pitches were there to hit, it was that they were so obviously high that the Bison hitters were able to lay off them and wait for a fastball in the strike zone to swing at.  Martin was able to throw the heater for a strike, but didn’t have the benefit of off-balance hitters, and they made him pay.  He surrendered five hits and four free-passes (plus a hit batsman) which lead to seven runs, all earned.  Justin Friend relieved him and allowed two inherited runners to score, plus one of his own over two innings.

Ethan seemed to be in good spirits when we met him briefly after the second game.  I would expect the young starter will continue to work on his craft and his day to be called up to help Philadelphia will come soon enough.

The ‘Pigs were able to get some hits, draw some walks, and have some chances–but just weren’t able to capitalize on them.  Cody Overbeck went 2/3 with 2 RBI on a homer and a double, but was thrown out at the plate.  Darrin Ruf struck out twice on the big looping curves from former ‘Pig Dave Bush to leave four on base.  Cody Asche went 2/3 to bring his average up to .260 on the season.

Nevertheless, the Home Team was able to bring the tying run to the plate with the bases loaded in the bottom-half of the final-inning seventh in the form of outfielder Leandro Castro.  I have to say I’ve been impressed with the young outfielder thus far this season.  But had I been the manager, I probably would have inserted Josh Fields as a pinch-hitter and told him to either hit a grand-slam or strike out trying.  Brundage sent Castro up, though, and he put a charge into a 2-1 pitch.  It wasn’t quite high enough to get into the wind stream, and was caught at the warning track in left-center.  It brought 9,000 of us at Coca Cola Park to our feet, though.  Hats off to Leandro for giving it his best!

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The second game began with spot-starter Zach Miner on the mound.  While starter BJ Rosenberg was on normal rest to have started the game, it was pointed out on the radio broadcast the other day that if a “bullpen” day is in order, it might be easier to have it in a seven-inning game rather than a nine-inning game.  Miner started shaky, yielding a few walks before getting a pep-talk from pitching coach Ray Burris in the first inning with the bases loaded and no outs.  Whatever the pitching guru said to Zach, it worked.  He extracted himself from the situation with a strikeout, a pop-up and a come-backer.  He then went on to pitch two more innings of no-hit ball.  Justin De Fratus then came in for innings four and five and scattered three hits and two walks to go along with three strikeouts, but allowed no runs as the IronPigs nursed a 1-0 lead.  Gillies had drawn a walk, stolen second, and easily scored on a Cesar Hernandez single.

The red-hot Bisons don’t go away that easily, though.  While the two runs surrendered by reliever Mike Stutes were listed as “earned” it sure didn’t feel that way as the ‘Pigs worked their way up to four errors in the shortened game.  Jake Diekman allowed an inherited runner to score as he pitched for the last out in the top of the seventh.

Once again, the ‘Pigs had a chance in the home half:  they had runners on second and third–enough to walk off down 2-1–and the mighty Cesar couldn’t come through.

Alas, it wasn’t meant to be on the clear and blustery evening, but our young club showed that they could play with experienced and talented AAA players from the first-place Blue Jays’ farm team.

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Once again, heightened security was present at the park as bags were inspected and officers discretely patrolled the park.  “Sweet Caroline” made an appearance and the 9,000 in attendance enjoyed the evening.  Many left after the first game, but as always, faithful were on hand until the last out was made 14 innings later.  Quality glass pint glasses with John Mayberry Jr.’s likeness were distributed, and folks with an eye on Philadelphia lamented Cliff Lee’s difficult night.  I was following the SteelHawks game via Twitter updates, and was disappointed to learn of another narrow loss in a very high-scoring game.

But today’s another day.  BJ Rosenberg is set to take the mound in an afternoon game and the sun is out.  Pending a change, I’d guess Tyler Cloyd–now the scheduled Monday starter–will be called to Philadelphia with Jon Pettibone moving up to take the Monday AM-start in Allentown on regular rest.  Perhaps Tom Cochran will move up from Reading to take Cloyd’s spot.  But we shall see.

It’s dog day today, and knit caps will be distributed to the first 3,000 adult humans.  The Bisons don’t have a projected starter, so perhaps we can get a win from them.

Put on your Sunday vests.  Put on your powder blues.  Let’s get out there and show why we’re the best fans in the MiLB.

See you at the park,

@Kram209