We believe we made some baseball history last night. Here is a picutre of home plate umpire Jason Hutchings walking to the field from the dugout to call of the game. Note the umbrella. That never happens.

Some quick notes for today/tonight…

• It will not rain.
• Completion of the suspended game begins at 6:05 pm in the bottom of the 3rd (first batter up, no count).
• The completed game is a nine-inning game (must finish the game as you start it).
• Here is the box score.
• RHP Freddy Ballestas makes his BlueClaws debut in game one for Lakewood and RHP Heitor Correa game two.
• LHP Cole McCurry, the Saturday starter, will pitch game one for Delmarva, and they’ll have a bullpen game in game two. Game two is a seven-inning game that starts 30 min after game one.
• Jayson Stark of ESPN signs copies of his new book Worth the Wait, about the 2008 Phillies, at the game tonight. Details here.

A couple BlueClaws roster moves, one quite significant.

RHP Tyler Cloyd (7-3, 3.05) has been promoted to Clearwater, a deserving promotion for the man who has been the ace of the BlueClaws the entire season. He threw a simulated game in Lakewood yesterday and will move into the Threshers rotation. It’s been quite the year for Cloyd, who was stunned to be drafted at this time one year ago by the Phillies, after not playing college baseball in all of 2008. Good luck to him.

Speculation- This could mean that Yohan Flande, selected for the Futures Game, is headed for Reading, but that’s an educated guess at this point.

RHP Justin De Fratus will move into the rotation in Cloyd’s place. De Fratus was surprised to learn he’d be coming out of the bullpen this year (listen to a ClawCast interview with De Fratus here that touches on the subject), but he’s been outstanding all year in the pen, earning an All-Star spot and pitching to a sub-2 ERA. De Fratus, who had never come out of the pen until this year, goes back in the rotation and makes his first start Monday.

Also, IF Troy Hanzawa has been activated off the temporary inactive list (he was hit in the head with a pitch on Saturday), and IF Alan Schoenberger has been sent to Williamsport.

Dominic Brown, Baseball America’s highest-ranked Phillies prospect and 2008 Lakewood BlueClaws OF, is nearing a return from a fractured finger which cost him the chance to play in the Florida State League All-Star game. Brown, hitting .299 with nine home runs, has already matched his HR total from last year.

Baseball America has a nice write-up on Brown, which you can read here. Phillies Asst. GM Chuck LaMar has a good quote on the 20-year old Brown and his chances of a 2009 promotion to Reading.

“We will never say that an athlete like Dominic will go year to year through the minors,” LaMar said. “It’s not out of the realm of possibility that he gets promoted . . . We don’t like predicting the pace a player moves up through the system. More times than not they drive that train themselves.”

Because the game was suspended on Friday and the fireworks were not set off as scheduled, anyone with tickets to Friday’s game can exchange them to any remaining 2009 BlueClaws home game. However, there are two fireworks nights this week, Thursday and Friday. All exchanges must be made in person at the BlueClaws Box Office.

The third player in the trio of BlueClaws that were promoted to Clearwater, Jon Velasquez, made his debut to similar success as his former BlueClaws teammates Steve Susdorf and Santo Hernandez. In a game the Threshers went on to win 5-3 in ten, Velasquez started and went six innings, allowing just four hits, two walks and no runs for the no decision.

While in Lakewood, Velasquez racked up nine wins, the most in the South Atlantic League, before making the trip to Clearwater. With the supurb start, Velasquez continues a streak of great starts. He has allowed just three earned runs in his last 26 innings pitched.

Welcome back to FirstEnergy Park for tonight’s game between the BlueClaws and Delmarva Shorebirds. Delmarva won the series opener 4-2 last night.

LAK: RHP Jesus Sanchez (3-4, 4.43)
DEL: LHP Nathan Moreau (1-2, 4.55)

O For Three…The BlueClaws are 6-0 after two-game losing streaks, meaning they have yet to lose three games in a row this season. They’ll try to make it 7-7 tonight; last night’s setback was their seventh two-game skid of the season.

Starting on the Right Foot…Jesus Sanchez has allowed just two ER over his last two starts (13 innings), both wins.

Game notes here…Audio here…Rest below the fold

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Here is a picture of this homestand’s Catch of the Day, and its modeled off of the magizine People. Inside you’ll find the BlueClaws players answers to questions like:

1. Which actor would you like to play you in a movie about your life?
2. Which NBA player would you most like to play a game of H-O-R-S-E with?
3. Which three people, living or deceased, would you most like to have a one-time dinner with?

Here are three answers…Guess who made them…
1. Hugh Jackman
2. Gheorghe Muresan
3. Shawn Johnson, Lebron James, and Jesus

This copy of the Catch of the Day is ONLY available at FirstEnergy Park during this homestand and the cost is FREE. See you at the park.

First off, here are tonight’s game notes…

• Trevor May and Heitor Correa have flipped/flopped in the rotation, with Correa throwing Saturday and May Sunday.
• The BlueClaws have scored 30 runs in Jason Knapp’s 14 starts.
• Lakewood, the first-half winners, started that half 1-3 against Delmarva, dropping three of four on opening weekend. They dropped the first game of half two last night, also against Delmarva.
• Still haven’t found anyone who likes a five-game series. The BlueClaws will play three in the second half, including this one.
• Harold Garcia is 15-40, Travis d’Arnaud 12-37, Travis Mattair 23-71, and Jeremy Hamilton 22-69 (with a 23 game on-base streak).
• Tonight’s pitcher, Jesus Sanchez, has given up just two earned runs over his last two starts (13 innings), with 10 strikeouts and three walks. He’s won his last two, after an eight-start winless streak.

Quick reminder…we’ve put a special VIP Luxury Suite up on eBay and the auction ends tomorrow (Saturday) at 1 pm. The suite is for the Tuesday, June 30th game at 7:05 and is one of the last opportunities to get a BlueClaws Luxury Suite this year. The package includes the following:

• 20 tickets to your own private suite, which features climate control and cable television, plus indoor/outdoor seating.
• Recognition on the video scoreboard
• Wait service
• Average retail value is $700. The opening bid is $300 (or $15 per ticket, just $5 more per ticket than it would cost to buy the same 20 tickets in the reserve seating area).

Click here to bid. Good luck.

At the All-Star break the BlueClaws had Steve Susdorf, Santo Hernandez and Jon Velasquez promoted to Hi-A Clearwater and Susdorf and Hernandez are shining, Velasquez could appear for the first time in tonight’s game.

Since their call ups:

Susdorf: 9-for-18 3 runs, 2 2B, 2 RBI
Hernandez: 3.2 ip, 0h, 0r, 2 saves

The BlueClaws wish the best of luck to Susdorf and Hernandez as well as all the former BlueClaws who have moved on from the organization.

Former Lakewood BlueClaws pitcher Kyle Drabek has been named to the team representing the United States in the 2009 All-Star Futures game, a game that showcases the minor league talent in and pits a US-based team against a team of future stars from around the world.

The Futures game was started in 1999 as a way to highlight the future talent may one day shine in the Major Leagues. Currently the series is split, with the US team winning five games and the World winning five games. Past MVPs of the Futures Game have included Alfonso Soriano, Jose Reyes and Grady Sizemore.

Drabek joins a host of other former BlueClaws to be featured in the game.

Adrian Cardinas - 2007
Carlos Carrasco -  06-08
Jason Donald - 2008
Gavin Floyd - 03-04
Greg Golson - 2008
Ryan Howard - 2003
Scott Mathieson - 2005

Virtually every star in the Major Leagues has played in the game, and six of the seven BlueClaws players to play in the game have made it to the Show.

Drabek earns his entry into the game by how well he has pitched this season. With Single-A Clearwater, Drabek went 4-1 with a 2.48 ERA and struck out 74 in 62.1 innings. Since his promotion to Double-A Reading, the results have been largely the same, 4-0 with a 2.43 ERA and 26 Ks in 33 innings. Drabek spent 2007 with the BlueClaws and went 5-1 with a 4.33 ERA. He missed almost a full year from Tommy John’s Surgery.

The Phillies are also represented on the World team as Yohan Flande was selected to participate as well. Flande played with the GCL Phillies and earned a trip directly to Clearwater where he has been dominant. This season, Flande is 7-1 with a 2.52 ERA in 82 innings.

Welcome back for half-two. Lakewood opens with a five-game series with Delmarva, who won 8 of the 13 first-half meetings, the only team to have a winning record against Lakewood this year.

LWD: RHP Jason Knapp (2-5, 3.62)
DEL: LHP Christopher Salberg (1-3, 6.80 w/ A+ Frederick)

New Guys…OF Vladimir De los Santos is here and in the lineup tonight. He was 2nd in the GCL in home runs w/ 10 last year. Check the game notes for info on the other new players.

On Knapp…The BlueClaws have scored just 29 runs in Knapp’s 13 starts, but he has allowed just four ER over his last 23.1 innings pitched.

Game notes…Audio…rest below the fold.

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