Thursday, July 4, 2013

2011 Choice Lehigh Valley IronPigs Series 2 #14 Jason Grilli

Pirates 6, Phillies 5
Game 85 - Wednesday Night, July 3rd in Pittsburgh
Record - 40-45, 3rd Place, 9 1/2 games behind the Braves

One Sentence Summary:  The Phils scraped and clawed to try to get back into this ballgame, but rough outings from John Lannan and Phillippe Aumont were too difficult to overcome and the Pirates won, 6-5.

What It Means:  The Phillies came close, but they couldn't come back all the way.  They'll try for a rare series win in Pittsburgh this afternoon.

What Went Wrong:  Lannan surrendered 11 hits and four runs in his five innings of work, while Aumont allowed two runs to start the sixth before he was pulled.  Domonic Brown had a three-hit night, including a two-run home run off Pirates closer Jason Grilli in the ninth.

Featured Card:  As our country celebrates its independence today, Pirates closer Grilli celebrates his independence . . . from the Phillies.  Grilli saved his 28th game last night for the first place Pirates, and he'll most likely be heading to New York in a few weeks for his first All-Star Game.  And according to this Reuben Frank article on CSNPhilly.com, the Phillies organization is partly to thank for Grilli's late career resurgence.

The Phils signed Grilli as a minor league free agent in January 2011.  He opened the season with Triple-A Lehigh Valley and went 4-1 with a 1.93 ERA over 28 games through July.  Passed over for a promotion to the big club by the likes of Mike Zagurski, Michael Stutes, Scott Mathieson, David Herndon, Juan Perez and Andrew Carpenter, Grilli asked for and received his release from the organization on July 20, 2011.  He signed with the Pirates the next day, and the rest, as they say, is history.

How good would Grilli look in the Phillies bullpen right about now?

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