One team after tonight will be in second place, the other in third. Game four of four between the BlueClaws and Hagerstown Suns with a tremendous pitching matchup to boot. Should be fun.

Game Notes
Listen Live (at 6:20)

LAK: RHP Jarred Cosart (5-1, 3.12)
HAG: LHP Dan Rosenbaum (1-1, 1.53)

More on the pitchers and the rest below the fold.

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Morning baseball today in Lakewood as Lakewood and Hagerstown meet in game three of a four game series. Lakewood won last night 9-2. Enjoy.

Game Notes
Listen Live (11:05 am)

LAK: RHP Julio Rodriguez (–)
HAG: RHP Paul Demny (2-1, 3.29)

Meet Julio…Rodriguez, 19, makes his first appearance of the season. Rodriguez was added from extended spring training last week when RHP Jonathan Pettibone was placed on the disabled list (right shoulder weakness). Rodriguez was an 8th round pick in 2008 (Toa Alta, Puerto Rico)…He spent 2008 in the GCL (14 ER in 10.1 IP) and 2009 in the GCL as well (1-2, 3.08, 56 K, 49 IP)…He pitched at the Puerto Rico Baseball Academy.

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Jonathan Singleton is off to a 19-44 start to his BlueClaws career, and hit his fourth home run tonight in a 9-2 win over Hagerstown. After starting 3-12 (what was he thinking?), Singleton is 16-32 over a current 10-game hitting streak.

His home run tonight was lined right down the line and fair by about 5 feet, there was never a doubt that it had enough distance. (Note, click here for the updated Home Runs for Heroes standings).

I thought Greg Legg, BlueClaws hitting coach, had the best line of all:

He’s one of those guys that when he comes up, you’re not going to get some popcorn.

Singleton leads the team in home runs, but he’s hit his four in 44 at bats. By contrast, Darin Ruf had 115 and Anthony Hewitt sits at 158.

“For an 18 year old, he sees the ball way beyond those years. You’ve probably seen him already laying off those change-ups,” said Legg. “He doesn’t waste at bats. I’m not tinkering with him.”

Here is a podcast with Singleton from Monday.

Singleton joins Darin Ruf (four and five) and Jonathan Villar as BlueClaws with four-hit games this year.

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Legg said he was “in heaven” watching Sebastian Valle get two hits, one to right and one to center. Legg has been trying to get Valle to do that all year, and now Valle is 10-25 over his last seven games.

Welcome back to FirstEnergy Park for game two of a four-game series with the Hagerstown Suns. After a 6-3 loss last night, Lakewood sends LHP Matt Way to the mound to try to even the series.

Game Notes
Listen Live (at 6:20)

LAK: LHP Matt Way (2-4, 5.35)
HAG: LHP Paul Applebee (1-1, 2.92)

The Chase…The BlueClaws sit in third place, three games behind first place Hickory (and two games behind second place Hagerstown) with 25 games remaining…Lakewood’s largest deficit this year has been four games (last time on May 23rd)…The BlueClaws have seven games remaining with Hagerstown in the first half but will not play Hickory until the second half (four games, August 25-28 at Hickory).
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The BlueClaws swept the weekly Phillies Minor League weekly awards today…

Players of the Week

**Pitcher: RHP Brody Colvin, Lakewood BlueClaws.  Was 1-0 for 2 starts, allowing 1 run and 8 hits in 13 total innings.  Walked 2 and struck out 12.  The 19-year-old was drafted in the 7^th round in 2009 out of St. Thomas More High School (LA); signed by Mike Stauffer.

**Player: 1B Jonathan Singleton, Lakewood BlueClaws.  Hit .400 in 7 games (8-20), with 3 doubles, 1 homer, 7 RBI and 2 steals. Ended the week riding an 8-game hitting streak.  Since joining Lakewood from extended spring training, he’s hitting .378 in 11 games..  The 18-year-old was drafted in the 8^th round in 2009 out of Robert A. Millikan High School (CA); signed by Demerius Pittman.

(courtesy of Larry Shenk, weekly review below the fold)

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We have put a SkyBox for June 6th up on eBay (click here to bid).

The private SkyBox includes the following:

• 20 tickets
• Climate Control
• Indoor/Outdoor Seating
• Wait Service
• Cable Television
• Access to the Upstairs Club

A $795 value with the opening bid at $250. Good luck.

This week’s Thirsty Thursday ticket giveaway is Weird Al, who plays at PNC Bank Arts Center on June 27th. We’ll have those tickets out for raffle in the WRAT Trap, plus the usual suspects ($1 beer, $1 soda, 50-cent wings).

Don’t forget about the partnership with Surf Taco. They sell tacos at Thirsty Thursday and if the BlueClaws score seven runs or more and win, bring your GA (or Thirsty Thursday Club) ticket to surf taco for a free taco!

Thirsty Thursday on Facebook here. Photos from last week’s Thirsty Thursday here.

Enjoy Weird Al.

Welcome back to FirstEnergy Park. An important series for Lakewood opens tonight with Hagerstown. The BlueClaws are in third place, three games out of first with Hagerstown one game ahead of Lakewood.

Game Notes
Listen Live (at 6:20)

LAK: RHP Colby Shreve (3-0, 1.88)
HAG: RHP Trevor Holder (3-1, 3.38)

Here’s Valle…Sebastian Valle is 5-8 over the last two days and 7-18 since his average bottomed out at .203 on May 16th…Valle, 19, went 16-91 from April 17th through May 16th, seeing his average fall from .281 to .203…Valle, 19, was with Lakewood for the first half last year before joining Williamsport, where he hit .307-6-40…He re-joined the BlueClaws for the post-season.

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Before Monday’s game against Hagerstown, we sat down with BlueClaws 1B Jonathan Singleton, who is off to a 14-37, 3 HR start with Lakewood since being promoted on May 13th.

Singleton, an 8th round pick in 2009 (Long Beach, California), is the 20th ranked prospect in the system per Baseball America.

He talks about his quick start, recent adjustments he’s made, what big leaguers he likes to watch, and more.

“I wasn’t surprised [that I started the year in extended spring training], because I did need to work on my defense,” he said. “But in the long run it did help. I hit the ball a lot better than I was during regular spring training and improved my defense.”

UPDATE: Would help if I posted the listen link (click here).

Brody Colvin’s April:
1-3, 11.15 ERA, 15.1 IP, 23 H, 9 BB, 9 K

Brody Colvin’s May:
2-2, 3.25 ERA, 27.2 IP, 24 H, 8 BB, 25 K

Also, Colvin gave up 7 runs (5 earned) in 1.2 innings at Greenville on May 12th. If you take that start out, his May ERA drops down to 1.73.

His seven shutout innings today marked the first time that he made it to seven innings in his young career (twice had he pitched into the seventh earlier in the year). Said manager Mark Parent:

Today (Colvin) went out and threw his game.  Nineteen-year olds tend to get excited, a little nervous. That’s what he did a couple of times ago. But today he kept everything under control. Today he didn’t have his best fastball starting out, but he got after it after a while and let a few go.

More here with comments from Colvin in the Asbury Park Press.

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Updated BlueClaws rotation…

Monday: RHP Colby Shreve
Tuesday: LHP Matt Way
Wednesday: RHP Julio Rodriguez
Thursday: RHP Jarred Cosart

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More on this Monday but Nick Hernandez ($800) brought in the biggest bid in the pink jersey auction after the game.

Welcome back to FirstEnergy Park for today’s game between Lakewood and West Virginia. They BlueClaws have not lost a series this year and will need to win today to continue the streak.

Game Notes
Listen Live (at 12:50)

LAK: RHP Brody Colvin (2-5, 7.25)
WVA: RHP Brandon Holden (0-2, 5.23)

Hit Parade…Jiwan James has hit safely in his last 11 games (15-43), his longest such streak of the season…In the stretch he has raised his average from .194 to .233…Jonathan Villar’s 12-game hitting streak ended on Thursday…Lakewood’s longest hitting streak of the season is 13 by Jeremy Barnes…the franchise record is 21 set in 2001 by Ambiorix Reyes.
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We sat down with Phillies Assistant GM Chuck LaMar earlier today for a podcast. You can listen to the full interview here.

LaMar, who said for the first time in 25 years he hasn’t done any amateur scouting, focusing on the pros, had some comments on a variety of topics…

• Jarred Cosart: He’s got outstanding stuff…He’s getting more consistent with his mechanics and he’s throwing strikes…We’re more pleased with his approach to the game and how he’s grown up over the last year. When he was signed, he has very good ability but he wasn’t ready to go through the wears and tears…He has done an outstanding job.
• Jonathan Singleton: He was good enough to break camp here. I held him back (a lot of people wanted to send him here from the start) but in 25 years of doing this, I’ve learned you have to be very careful with power hitters. If you find a young man with power in an advanced league, they worry more about making contact. To be a good power hitter you have to have the mentality. I did not want to place him over his head to start so he wouldn’t worry about batting average.
• Jonathan Villar: Freddy Galvis and Troy Hanzawa were much more refined than Villar and consistent defensively at this level. But Villar has more physical ability not just offensively, than Troy or Freddy, but defensively too. If he learns from his mistakes, there’s no telling where he’ll end up. But after the first six weeks he may be the most improved player on the team.

Welcome back to FirstEnergy Park…After a very tough loss last night, 4-3 after leading 3-2 to the 9th, Lakewood looks to bounce back. They have lost three of four.

Game Notes
Listen Live (at 6:50)

LAK: RHP Jarred Cosart (4-1, 3.51)
WVA: RHP Jason Erickson (3-2, 2.22)

The One-Run Blues…The BlueClaws have played four one-run games in a row (1-3), and five out of their last six games have been decided by one run…The BlueClaws overall are 8-9 in one run games (29-17 last year).

Holding the Lead…The BlueClaws have already lost five games they have led after seven innings and four games they have led after eight innings…Last year, they were 59-4 when leading after seven and 55-2 when leading after eight innings.
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The BlueClaws have placed lefty Nick Hernandez (3-1, 1.61) on the disabled list with left shoulder weakness. Tough break for Hernandez, who had allowed just two earned runs in his last 28 innings pitched.

Luke Wertz (9 IP, 1 ER), who has been on the DL since April 23rd, has been activated.

Hernandez was to pitch tomorrow, but that’s now TBA. Updated rotation as follows…

UPDATED: 2:03 pm

Friday: RHP Jarred Cosart (4-1, 3.51)
Satudray: RHP Siulman Lebron (0-1, 5.61)
Sunday: RHP Brody Colvin (2-5, 7.25)
Monday: RHP Colby Shreve (3-0, 1.88)
Tuesday: LHP Matt Way (2-4, 5.23)