Iron Pigs sink Yanks!

Lehigh Valley 5 Scranton Wilkes-barre 4

The game remained tied until the 11th inning, thanks to strong relief performances by Lance Pendleton for the Yankees and Chance Chapman for the IronPigs.

Chapman pitched two innings of scoreless ball, allowing two hits while striking out two. Pendleton tossed 3 1/3 innings of work, allowing one run on four hits.

Chapman for the win.

Game Pics- Chapman in Columbus

 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 

Chapman pitches perfect 9th!

Got the call earlier this week that Chance was going to be in town for a four game series. Unfortunately, I am heading out for the weekend, so I was only able to catch tonight's game. After dealing with the morons at will call (they gave my tickets to the singer of the Stars Spangled Banner), we got to our seats. It was a great night in Columbus for baseball, about 50 degrees at game time, and no rain! Dmitry was having a blast playing with the mascots, and dad was having a good time drinking a few Buds!

The game itself was dominated by the pigs, who jumped out to an early 3-0 lead and they never looked back. Although the Pigs went to the bullpen early and often, it didn't appear Chance was going to get an appearance. Finally, after the Pigs expanded their lead in the 8th, the skipper called Chance to warm up and he was given the chance (pun intended) to finish the 9th. Although it was not a save opportunity, he did come in, throw some heat, and get a 1-2-3 9th with 3 ground ball outs. Sweet finish to a great night; got to spend a few minutes chatting with Chance after game and D was extremely happy to meet his cousin. Chance was pretty stoked about the game, but more stoked about the opportunity to be in triple A! He looked good and although he is low man on the totem pole and was concerned about some people coming down from the bigs, he had good stuff. Hopefully he demonstrated he had what it takes to stick around for awhile!

Nice job, cuz!

Pitching Dominates

Pitching Dominates

Just one night of making bad history, IronPigs pitching rebounded on Friday to turn in one of their finest performances. The IronPigs advanced to 6-0 when scoring first in games as they shut-out the Pawtucket Red Sox by a score of 3-0 to secure the series split. This was the first shutout that the IronPigs ended up on the right side of.

The IronPigs went into Friday's game minus their ace Vance Worley, who was scheduled to start for the IronPigs but called up to make a spot-start for the Phillies in the wake of Joe Blanton's trip to the disabled list.

· Box
· Stats
· Schedule 

Brian Gordon made the spot-start in turn for the IronPigs, and did absolutely everything that could have been asked of him, going 3.0 innings while allowing three hits and no runs with a walk and a strikeout. Opposing Gordon was Alfredo Aceves, who also had a solid outing despite taking the loss with three runs (two earned) over 5.0 innings pitched with three walks and five strikeouts.

The big story tonight was the bullpens for both sides, combining for 9.0 innings of no-hit relief. For the IronPigs, the bulk of the workload was shouldered by Chance Chapman who went 4.0 innings while striking out three and walking none to earn the win. Michael Schwimer would come in to pitch the eighth inning, striking out two and walking none, and Juan Perez came in to notch the save in the ninth.

For the Red Sox it was LHP Rich Hill, RHP Scott Atchison, and RHP Clevelan Santeliz who each pitched no-hit innings to keep the IronPigs to two hits.

The IronPigs were able to take advantage of miscues in order to supplement their stagnant hitting on the night. The only two hits of the night for the IronPigs were singles by Jeff Larish and Rob Hudson in the third inning. Following the two hits, Josh Barfield walked to load the bases with one out. Kevin Frandsen struck a sacrifice fly into right field that scored Jeff Larish, and then Hudson came racing in and managed to score ton the throw to the plate from right fielder J.C. Linares.

The IronPigs led off the fourth inning with two walks, followed by a poorly placed sacrifice bunt attempt by Rob Hudson that resulted in the force out at third base. Josh Barfield dribbled a ball to shortstop Jose Iglesias who flipped the ball to second for the force out, however they could not get the out on Barfield at first base as second baseman Drew Sutton threw the ball away. Erik Kratz came around to score, however Lars Anderson recovered and was able to throw out Barfield at second base.

The IronPigs were fortunate to have the outstanding pitching performances that they had tonight, as their offense took another night off. The Buffalo Bisons come to town for a four-game series beginning tomorrow, with Nate Bump getting the start against D.J. Carrasco.

This story was not subject to the approval of the National Association of Professional Baseball Leagues or its clubs.

Chapman First Triple A Win

Lehigh Valley IronPigs earn first shutout win of season

Published: Friday, April 29, 2011, 10:04 PM     Updated: Friday, April 29, 2011, 10:26 PM

 By Michael LoRe | The Express-Times 
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Four relievers combined to allow three hits as the Lehigh Valley IronPigs beat Pawtucket, 3-0, tonight for their first shutout of the season in front of 9,219 fans at Coca-Cola Park. 

Brian Gordon made his first start since 2009 in place of Vance Worley, who was promoted to Philadelphia and started for the Phillies against the Mets. Gordon gave up three hits in three innings before Chance Chapman went four hitless, earning his first win as an IronPig.

Worley pitched six strong innings in the Phillies' 10-3 win and recorded his first major league hit. 

Michael Schwimer worked a perfect eighth, striking out a pair before Juan Perez picked up his third save of the season. 

Jeff Larish scored on a sacrifice fly by Kevin Frandsen in the bottom of the third. An errant throw by the Red Sox (13-9) on the same play saw Rob Hudson cross the plate for a 2-0 lead. 

Lehigh Valley (11-11) added another run on a force out grounder by Josh Barfield in the fifth. 

The Pigs continue their eight-game homestand Saturday when they entertain Buffalo for the first of a four-game set at 6:35 p.m. Nate Bump (0-2, 5.49 ERA) is on the hill for the Pigs against D.J. Carrasco (0-0, 0.00) for the Bisons.

Chapman for the win!

April 29 ~ Lehigh Valley 3 Pawtucket 0

Chapman Promoted To Triple A

Right-handed pitcher Chance Chapman was promoted to the Triple-ALehigh Valley IronPigs on Monday, April 25, 2011, from the Double-A Reading Phillies.

2011 Season Begins

Going to spend this rainy morning updating the site with 2011 links!  Looking forward to great year of pitching by Chapman.

Looking at the schedule, I see that the kid will be in Erie in May Memorial Day week-end, Akron in June, and Altoona the last week of June.  Unless your up for a five hour roadtrip, you better mark your calendar accordingly!

See you at the park!

TUNE IN Tonight

Chapman takes the mound tonight at 7:05 pm in Akron, Ohio.  Follow the listen online links to hear the game online!  Good luck Chapman!

Blog Updates

Well, I finally fixed the Reading Phils broken links ----->

Now you should be able to find the info you are looking for.  I added a link for game video clips.

We've started our countdown to the date when the R-Phils are in Akron, and our first outing of the year!  It will be a four game series beginning on Wednesday and ending on Sunday.  Hope to see you there!

April 10 ~

R Phils win 4-1 against Portland on Saturday, April 10.  Chapman threw one a half scoreless innings.

Opening Day Roster

  Chapman will start the 2010 season with the Reading Phils wearing number 27.

see Opening day roster announcement

AAA ????????

I had heard some early rumors that Chance may end up in Triple A this year. Pretty stoked since that would mean several stops to C'bus! I have the dates penciled in when they would play, just waiting for some confirmation......

They have a beautiful stadium in Columbus and they draw huge crowds. Might be worth road trip for anyone interested if this happens!


Update: 4/4/10
Chance will be starting the season in Double A with hopes of an early promotion to AAA. Let's all wish him well this year and continue to give him support he needs to make it to the next level!

Spring Training News 2010

I found this article on the Major League Blogs Network.  The article is dated March 22, 2010 and states that Chapman received a temporary promotion to the big club.

... "Earlier in the day, RHP Michael Stutes, who went 8-8 with a 4.26 ERA at Reading in 2009, got notice that he was a minor league player addition to the big club's roster.  RHP Chance Chapman and RHP Vance Worley, two other R-Phils contributors from last year, earned similar temporary promotions ..."

click here for the full article:

Major League Debut

It appears Chapman threw his first major league pitch on March 29, 2010 in a pre season game against the Atlanta Braves.  Still looking for the game recap, but I have added a link to the box scores to the right.  See  Major League Game Recap.

2009 Season Video

click this link for a video recap of the 2009 season!
scroll down to the highlight video.. good stuff!

http://web.minorleaguebaseball.com/multimedia/page.jsp?ymd=20100301&content_id=8637640&vkey=multimedia_t522&fext=.jsp&sid=t522

Spring Training 2010

Well, it's that time of the year again, and I can only assume that our California kid is in Florida warming up his arm.  When I get word from Chapman regarding his arrival in Pennsylvania, I will be sure to post!!

Five Scoreless Innings

Sept. 3: Reading 3, New Britain 1

Chance Chapman: Worked five scoreless innings on Thursday night to earn his seventh win and extend his scoreless innings streak to 15.

New Britain, CT -- In game number 137, the Reading Phillies and starting pitcher Chance Chapman revitalized their playoff hopes and gained a one game lead in the race for the final playoff spot in the Southern Division with a 3-1 victory over the New Britain Rock Cats on Thursday night at New Britain Stadium.

Chapman (7-1) used early run support to cruise to his seventh victory of the year. Even though the right-hander got the nod for his start a day prior, he seemed to settle in early as the R-Phils got on the board with one run in the second on a sacrifice fly by departing Australian Tim Kennelly.

The Aussie continued to contribute at the plate as he sacrificed himself for the team on a ground out to second in the fourth for his second run batted in of the evening. The R-Phils added their third and final run of the night on a dropped third strike by catcher Wilson Ramos.

The Reading bullpen continued to shut down the Rock Cats in the sixth as lefty Mike Zagurski came in to retire six consecutive batters after hitting leadoff hitter Whit Robbins.

Zagurski then handed the ball to righty Scott Mathieson. The Canadian cruised early as he retired the Rock Cats in order in the bottom of the eighth inning. After walking the first two batters of the inning in the ninth, Mathieson got two flyouts before Erik Lis hit a RBI single to score Yancarlos Ortiz. With runners on first and second, Wilson Ramos hit a hard line drive in the right field corner pushing Phillies top prospect Domonic Brown into the corner before he secured the final out of the game.

The Reading win combined with a 4-3 loss by the Erie SeaWolves narrows the R-Phils magic number to four entering the final series of the regular season.

The Phillies look to continue their playoff push as they open a five-game series against the Northern Division Champion Connecticut Defenders. Right-hander Vance Worley (7-11, 5.22) is slated to get the start for Reading in game one opposite Connecticut left-hander Ben Snyder (3-4, 2.57). First pitch is scheduled for 6:35 p.m.

PLAYOFFS

Reading Phils vs. Akron Aeros in the 2009 Eastern League Playoffs Wednesday, September 9 and Thursday, September 10 at Akron.

Sunday Baseball

Sunday, August 2, 2009

Erie Seawolves vs. Reading Phils

19 scoreless innings