Lehigh Valley

ALLENTOWN - Another big-league opportunity came and went for Tyler Cloyd on Wednesday. It was his day to pitch, and he did so right on schedule - for the triple-A Lehigh Valley IronPigs. The fact that it wasn't his best start of the season is beside the point. The fact that he did not make his 23d start of the season for the Phillies at Citizens Bank Park is the point. That assignment went instead to Kyle Kendrick, and that did not go well either. That, too, is beside the point.

DOMONIC BROWN singled and drove in a run Monday night in his first game since being activated from the disabled list at Triple A Lehigh Valley. The IronPigs began a four-game series Monday night in Durham and Brown was in the lineup, batting third and playing leftfield. He went 1-for-3 and also walked, scoring twice as the IronPigs won, 6-1. Brown was placed on the DL with a right knee sprain on June 27 after missing 12 games, when he was listed as day-to-day. The team and Brown seemed to have a disagreement on the extent of the injury at the time.

RYAN HOWARD doubled in a run during Lehigh Valley's three-run eighth inning for his only hit in four at-bats, helping the IronPigs rally from a 4-0 deficit to beat the Scranton/Wilkes-Barre Yankees, 5-4, in 10 innings Monday night. After scoring three in the eighth, the IronPigs scored once in the bottom of the ninth on a bases-loaded walk, and scored the game-winner in the 10th on a wild pitch with the bases loaded again. Howard's first three at-bats didn't go nearly as well as his fourth.

Lehigh Valley infielder Kevin Frandsen and pitcher Tyler Cloyd were named to the International League All-Star team Wednesday. The International League team will take on the Pacific Coast League All-Stars on July 11 in Buffalo, N.Y. The IL team is made up of 13 players selected by field manager and general managers, media members and online fan vote and the remaining 17 players are chosen by the league office. Cloyd, one of the elected players, is 7-1 with a 2.17 ERA for Lehigh Valley this season in 11 starts.

Chase Utley led off the fourth inning with a solo home run in a rehab assignment appearance for Triple A Lehigh Valley against Rochester. Utley hammered a 1-2 fastball off reliever Esmerling Vasquez as the IronPigs have scored in every inning to this point and lead, 8-1. Utley, batting third, lined out in the first and singled in the second. He was called out on strikes to end the fifth inning with a man on second, and struck out swinging to lead off the 8th inning.

Chase Utley's rehab assignment appearance for Triple A Lehigh Valley on Tuesday is sold out. The remaining standing-room only tickets were purchased by midday Monday. The IronPigs host the Rochester Red Wings at 7:05 at Coca-Cola Park in Allentown. Utley, sidelined all season with knee issues, could be back in the Phillies lineup Wednesday, according to CSNPhilly.com. In nine rehab games with Class A Clearwater, beginning June 12, Utley was 5-for-32 (.156) with one home run and five RBI. He played consecutive games at second base for the first time Friday and Saturday.

Ed Wall knew that his team felt overwhelmed. Even if they are the best high-school players in their county, the Suburban One League American/Continental all-stars aren't used to playing on a big-league field. Enveloped by the 43,647 blue seats at Citizens Bank Park on Sunday morning, Wall's players reached for pitches out of the zone. They swung too hard. They just looked different, Wall said. Then, in the fourth inning, Robert Knox (Upper Moreland) turned on a 1-0 pitch, the ball whizzed over the left-field wall, three runs crossed the plate, and Suburban One American/Continental seized a 4-3 lead.

Lehigh Valley started running in the fifth inning, and coach Freddy Hilliard knew his team couldn't keep up. Sure enough, Inter-Ac/Independents fell off the pace as Lehigh Valley took advantage of little mistakes. Every wild pitch, every passed ball, every error, Lehigh Valley sprinted to the next bag. And by the eighth inning, Lehigh Valley ran enough to pass Inter-Ac/Independents and continue dashing forward, coming from behind to take the second-round Carpenter Cup matchup, 5-3, Friday morning at Ashburn Field in FDR Park.

Nick Bateman had two hits and matched teammate Jay Farrell with two runs batted in, leading the Inter-Ac/Independents all-stars to a 12-11 victory over Delaware South in the first round of the 27th annual Carpenter Cup Classic at Ashburn Field on Monday. Inter-Ac/Independents, who will face Lehigh Valley at 9 a.m. Friday in the quarterfinals, built a 7-0 lead before Delaware South rallied with six runs in the fifth inning and another in the sixth to tie the score. Down by 10-9 in the eighth inning, Inter-Ac/Independents took the lead for good when Mike DeMatteis singled in the tying run, and Jay Farrell followed with the game-winning two-run single.

ALLENTOWN - If Tyler Cloyd can one day come to Philadelphia and mimic the production that he is currently experiencing as a minor leaguer in the Phillies organization, then the story will become one of folklore reprised whenever he has a notable outing. Cloyd, a righthander who turned 25 last week, was slated to open the season in Double A Reading last month. The night before Triple A Lehigh Valley's opening day, Cloyd received a call. He needed to pitch for the IronPigs, who lost starter Dave Bush to suspension.