![]() Jiwan James' catch was the top play on Sportscenter's Top 10 Plays. (Ralph Trout)
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(Reading, Pa.)---The Reading Phillies (48-44) may have dropped their eighth game in July with Saturday's 4-2 loss to the Bowie Baysox (45-48) at FirstEnergy Stadium, but a majority of the talk surrounding the game centered on one must-see play by one of the Philadelphia Phillies top prospects.
Leading off the third inning, Bowie's Jonathan Schoop launched a deep shot to center field that appeared to be en route for a home run. As he tracked down the ball, Jiwan James did his best Spider-Man impersonation and started to scale the outfield wall. While on the wall, James stuck his glove over the wall to grab Schoop's shot. James then fell from the wall onto the warning track where he displayed the ball for the umpires and all to certify the out.
Talk of James' catch dominated local media outlets, social media feeds, and of course, FirstEnergy Stadium throughout the night. He was 1-for-4 with a run scored. Over his past three games, James has racked up six total runs and one in each of those games played.
While James' grab was one of the few R-Phils highlights of the game, the team dropped its tenth game in its past twelve contests. After leading the Eastern Division by 1.5 games on June 30, Readings now sits 5.0 games back from first-place Trenton.
Bowie hitters jumped all over southpaw Mario Hollands in the third inning when Josh Barfield, Robbie Widlansky, and Manny Machado each recorded consecutive two-out hits that resulted in three runs being scored. Machado's hit was a two-run blast that was just his fifth surrendered this season across the three levels he's played in. Hollands would surrender another run in the fourth inning when Jai Miller shot a run-scoring double to deep center field.
Hollands gave up four earned runs on eight hits and three walks. He's now surrendered at least four earned runs or more in his past three starts. He allowed opponents to at least three earned runs or less in his first two R-Phils starts.
Reading tagged Bowie pitcher's for two runs. The first came after Darin Ruf drove in James on a sacrifice fly to left field. Troy Hanzawa plated the team's second run in the seventh inning with two outs after the R-Phils' Tim Kennelly and D'Arby Myers each had a two-out hit prior to the Hawaiian native's at-bat.
The Reading bullpen tossed a scoreless effort, anchored by the second quality performance of right-handed pitcher and former big leaguer Juan Morillo. In four July games, he is 0-0 with a 2.89 ERA and seven strikeouts.
Second baseman Cesar Hernandez recorded his second straight multi-hit game with two hits on Saturday, including a double.
The R-Phils send Jonathan Pettibone (7-6/3.65 ERA) to the mound on Sunday as they fight for the series split against Bowie's RHP Zach Clark (7-4/3.82), an Eastern League All-Star at 1:35 p.m. Tune into 1340 WRAW-AM on the radio dial or online at 1340WRAW.com starting at 1:05 p.m. for the game broadcast with the voice of the Reading Phillies, Brian Seltzer.
Tickets for all regular season home games, including the Jimmy Rollins Old School Bobblehead giveaway on July 23, can be purchased online at www.RPhils.com, by phone at 610-370-BALL, and in person at the R-Phils Ticket Office at FirstEnergy Stadium. The 2012 season featuring the Baseballtown All-Star Classic at America's Classic Ballpark is presented by Pepsi.
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