Minor League Playoffs: Lakewood advances, Reading survives, Lehigh Valley swept

A trio of Phillies affiliates had postseason action on Friday night. Two of those clubs came out victorious with Lakewood winning their first round series and Reading forcing a games four in their opening round match up. However, Lehigh Valley was swept by their division rival.

In the Class A South Atlantic League, the BlueClaws swept their best-of-three series with a 6-2 win on the road at Hagerstown. Right-hander Jose Taveras went seven innings, allowing two earned runs with four strike outs and no walks while giving up seven hits, to notch the win. Sutter McLoughlin would toss a scoreless ninth for the save. On offense, lead-off man Mark Laird went 4-for-4 with a walk and a stolen base while Wilson Garcia and Damek Tomscha each drove in a pair of runs.

Lakewood will face the winner of the Rome vs. Charleston Southern Division Series in a best-of-five series beginning on Monday on the road. Games three, four and five if necessary of the series will be at Lakewood on Thursday through Saturday (Sept. 15-17) with each game taking place at 7:05 PM.

Reading’s offense was on point on Friday, as the Fightin Phils avoided being swept out of the Eastern League Eastern Division Series by Trenton, who won the first two games of the best-of-five round. Left-hander Elniery Garcia grabbed the win in his first Double-A start, allowing three runs (two earned) in six innings of work while striking out four and walking one. On offense, catcher Jorge Alfaro went 4-for-5, mashing two home runs and driving in three runs. In a five-run fifth inning, Alfaro, Rhys Hoskins and Harold Martinez each went deep. The two teams will play again at Reading’s FirstEnergy Stadium on Saturday, at 7:05 PM. Game five, if necessary, would be played on Sunday at 6:05 PM in Reading .

In the Triple-A International League playoffs, Lehigh Valley got rocked by division rival Scranton Wilkes-Barre 11-3. Righty Phil Klein, who had a 1.98 ERA over his last 10 outings, wasn’t sharp, as he was charged with 10 runs (eight earned) in 3 1/3 innings, taking the loss. Outfielder Nick Williams was injured in the contest and left the game after running full speed into a railing while chasing a foul ball in the 4th inning. Cody Asche went 0-for-9 in the series for the IronPigs while J.P. Crawford was 1-for-12.