Kyle Drabek

In the past, the Phillies have not been afraid to draft high-risk, high-reward talent. Is Kyle Drabek that type of pick? The Phillies selected Drabek, a talented righthanded high school pitcher from Texas and the son of Cy Young Award winner Doug Drabek, with the 18th overall pick yesterday in the first-year player draft. Drabek had some off-field issues that might have caused him to drop to the Phillies, but the Phils say they have done their homework and are comfortable with the selection.

Kyle Drabek gave up two runs over five innings and earned his second win in as many starts for the Reading Phillies as they beat the visiting Trenton Thunder, 5-3, in an Eastern League game last night. Drabek allowed seven hits and walked five. Trenton's first two runs came during a five-hit fourth inning. Drabek struck out three on the night. Reading led after third baseman Neil Sellers hit a three-run homer in the bottom of the first to open the scoring. Drabek pitched seven shutout innings in his debut for Reading last week after being promoted from Class A Clearwater.

Kyle Drabek allowed just three hits in seven shutout innings last night as the Reading Phillies beat the Portland Sea Dogs, 6-0, in the Eastern League. Domonic Brown had two hits, including a triple. Erie 2, Trenton 0 TRENTON - Jared Gayhart gave up just one hit in five innings and struck out six in an emergency start as the SeaWolves topped the Thunder in the Eastern League. Scheduled starter Pat Stanley left the mound because of an unspecified injury during his warm-up. Scranton 4, Lehigh Valley 3 Lehigh Valley 9, Scranton 4 ALLENTOWN - Andrew Carpenter picked up his 10th victory in the nightcap as the IronPigs earned a split in an International League doubleheader with the Yankees.

Kyle Drabek scattered four hits over eight scoreless innings last night as the Reading Phillies beat the Harrisburg Senators, 4-0, in the Eastern League. Newark 3, Camden 2 Riversharks reliever Tracy Thorpe gave up two runs in the ninth in an Atlantic League loss to the Bears at Campbell's Field in Camden. Camden pitchers Nate Bump and Thorpe, catcher Jason Jacobs, outfielder Wayne Lydon, and infielder Vito Chiaravollotti were picked for the All-Star Game on Tuesday in Newark, N.J. Winston-Salem 4, Wilmington 0 WILMINGTON - Chicago White Sox prospect Levi Maxwell pitched a seven-inning no-hitter for the Dash in a Carolina League win over the Blue Rocks.

Kyle Drabek scattered six hits and three runs over 7 1/3 innnings last night to lead the Reading Phillies to a 9-3 Eastern League victory over the New Hampshire Fisher Cats. Drabek struck out nine. Lehigh Valley 5, Indianapolis 4 ALLENTOWN - Lou Marson's RBI single in the bottom of the eighth inning lifted the IronPigs past the Indians in the International League. IronPigs starter Kyle Kendrick yielded a pair of two-run homers in six innings of work. Akron 4, Trenton 3 AKRON, Ohio - Asdrubal Cabrera scored the winning run on a bases-loaded walk with two outs in the bottom of the ninth inning as the Aeros edged the Thunder in the Eastern League.

Michael Taylor slugged his 15th homer, a two-run shot that capped a six-run second inning, as the Reading Phillies beat the Altoona Curve, 8-6, in the Eastern League last night. Scott Eyre, on a rehab assignment from the Phillies, gave up a first-inning run and Kyle Drabek (5-0) allowed three more in the second but went 6 2/3 innings for the victory. Taylor and lefthander Joe Savery were chosen to play in the Eastern League All-Star Game on July 15. Savery (10-1) leads the league in wins, and Taylor leads in batting average (.348 entering last night)

The New Britain Rock Cats overcame home runs by Jeremy Slayden, Tim Kennelly and Brian Stavisky to beat the Reading Phillies, 6-4, last night in the Eastern League. Kyle Drabek took the loss. Portland 5, Trenton 2 TRENTON - Jon Still's two-run homer in the second inning sent the Sea Dogs past the Thunder in the Eastern League. Lexington 8, Lakewood 4 LAKEWOOD, N.J. - Jay Austin capped a four-run rally in the seventh inning, driving in two runs with a single as the Legends pulled away from the BlueClaws in the South Atlantic League.

Kyle Drabek (6-1) struck out seven in eight innings last night as the Reading Phillies beat the Altoona Curve, 7-2, in the Eastern League. Trenton 9, New Hampshire 4 MANCHESTER, N.H. - Ryan Pope collected seven strikeouts in eight shutout innings as the Thunder earned an Eastern League victory over the Fisher Cats. Charlotte 5, Lehigh Valley 3 CHARLOTTE, N.C. - Josh Kroeger's two-run homer capped a four-run third inning against starter Kyle Kendrick as the Knights beat the IronPigs in the International League.

In the last year, the Phillies have traded away seven of their top 10 prospects, as rated by Baseball America before the 2009 season. That, Phillies general manager Ruben Amaro Jr. said, is a cause for concern. While acquiring a former Cy Young Award winner, the Phillies dealt another in Cliff Lee to Seattle for three prospects in an attempt to replenish the farm system. In return, the Phillies received pitchers Phillippe Aumont and J.C. Ramirez, and outfielder Tyson Gillies from the Mariners.

Kyle Drabek allowed one run in six innings as the Lakewood BlueClaws beat the West Virginia Power, 9-1, in the South Atlantic League last night. Drabek was the first-round draft choice of the Phillies last June. Gus Milner drove in five runs with a pair of doubles and a single in five at-bats. Buffalo 5, Ottawa 3 BUFFALO - J.A. Happ tossed five no-hit innings while walking three and striking out six, but the Lynx bullpen couldn't protect the lead in the International League game.

IN 18 DAYS, baseball's trading deadline will be upon us. Despite the fact that the Phillies have the best record in baseball, our fan base is frantic and desperately wants the team to trade for a "bat. " Well, hold on a minute. There is simply no guarantee that a trade will turn out well. It could be great and our "bat" could power us to a world championship, or he could turn out to be a bust and the players we traded to get him could go on to be All-Stars. To understand the risk/reward involved in such a midseason move, let's look at some of the best and worst trades in Phils' history.

Jeter's bid for 3,000 on hold What a year it's been for the Yankees' Derek Jeter , and we haven't even reached the all-star break yet. Earlier this season, Jeter was mired in a slump so deep that the New York Times ran a front-page story about him. On April 20, when he went 0 for 5, his batting average dropped to .219. After he snapped out of it, the 11-time all-star had fans cheering again as he moved closer to collecting his 3,000th career hit. But injury has interrupted that quest.

TORONTO - David Ortiz and the Boston Red Sox are steamrolling that 0-6 start into irrelevance. Ortiz and Kevin Youkilis each homered and drove in four runs as the Red Sox teed off on the Toronto Blue Jays for the second straight day - beating them, 14-1, on Sunday for Boston's ninth straight win. "That's why everybody was going crazy when we were losing all those games at the beginning of the season," Ortiz said. "Because you go position by position, this team can match against anybody.

DUNEDIN, Fla. - Kyle Drabek won his final two May starts for the Double A New Hampshire Fisher Cats last season, allowing just 10 hits and two runs in 15 innings. Not too shabby. In between, though, Roy Halladay pitched a perfect game for the Phillies. Drabek, 23, threw a no-hitter against New Britain in July and went on to make his major league debut with the Toronto Blue Jays before the regular season ended. Halladay, 33, no-hit the Cincinnati Reds in the Division Series opener and went on to win his second Cy Young Award.

Mariners 6, Blue Jays 3 TORONTO - Jose Lopez hit three home runs and Michael Saunders added a two-run drive as Seattle pounded Toronto. Lopez hit a solo shot off starter Kyle Drabek in the second inning, led off the sixth with a blast off reliever Brian Tallet, and connected again off reliever Shawn Camp in the eighth. Saunders added a two-run shot off Drabek in the second. Making his second career start and his home debut at the Rogers Centre, Drabek (0-2) allowed three runs and four hits, including the two homers, in five innings.

BALTIMORE - The 15th day of September will always have special meaning for Kyle Drabek. A year ago Wednesday, Drabek was standing near home plate at Citizens Bank Park accepting the Paul Owens Award as the top pitching prospect in the Phillies' minor-league system. Fast forward to last night, and there stood the 22-year-old Drabek on the mound at Camden Yards making his big-league debut. "The only thing I told him was don't change anything and that it's still the same game," said Doug Drabek, Kyle's father and the 1990 National League Cy Young Award winner with the Pittsburgh Pirates.

TRENTON - The Trenton Thunder beat the New Hampshire Fisher Cats, 2-0, in Game 1 of their best-of-five Eastern League playoff series Wednesday at Waterfront Park. Former Phillies prospect Kyle Drabek gave up one run in six innings and took the loss. The Thunder's Dellin Betances did not allow a run in 51/3 innings for the win. Game 2 is Thursday in Trenton. HICKORY, N.C. - The BlueClaws slammed the host Crawdads in Game 1 of the South Atlantic League Northern division championship series.

TRENTON - Kyle Drabek worked seven scoreless innings, allowing two hits, walking three, and striking out nine to improve to 14-9 as the New Hampshire Fisher Cats thumped the Trenton Thunder, 6-0, in the Eastern League on Monday night. RICHMOND, Va. - Freddy Galvis tripled home Kevin Mahar and then scored on a throwing error by shortstop Ryan Lormand in the top of the tenth and the R-Phils beat the Flying Squirrels in the Eastern League. ALLENTOWN - Paul Hoover went 2 for 3 with three RBI in a rain-shortened win for the IronPigs over the Red Wings in the International League.

Chicago might not be the most logical place to start when looking at the Phillies' recent acquisition of Roy Oswalt, but for those who are interested in the decision-making that went into the deal, it was impossible to ignore the White Sox' 4-1 victory over the Athletics. On an otherwise anonymous Sunday afternoon, two young starters making $3.15 million between them combined to throw 15 innings, with five earned runs, 10 hits and 16 strikeouts between them. The performances would be irrelevant, except for one fact: Four years ago, A's lefthander Gio Gonzalez and White Sox righthander Gavin Floyd were both in the Phillies' farm system.

AKRON, Ohio - Tuffy Gosewich drove in three runs in Reading's eight-run second inning and the Phillies defeated the Akron Aeros, 11-3, in the Eastern League on Sunday. Gosewich had an RBI double and a two-run single in the inning, when Reading sent 13 batters to the plate. Timo Perez was 4 for 6 with two RBIs for the Phillies, who rapped out 15 hits in the game. Matthew Rizzotti, who entered the game with a league-leading .360 batting average, rapped a pair of doubles in five at bats.