Michael Stutes

PHOENIX - Suzy Stutes started crying. Chris Stutes started seeing visions from the past. And Mitch Moses? Well, Mitch Moses started driving. Less than 24 hours later, a tight circle of Michael Stutes' friends and family gathered in front of the will-call window at Chase Field and basked in a moment they had dreamed of their entire lives. "You wait and wait and wait for this call," Suzy Stutes said while grasping that night's program in her hand, "and when it finally comes, you can't believe you got it. " The Call came on Easter evening in a tidy suburb on the outskirts of Portland.

CLEARWATER, Fla. - Michael Stutes sat in the corner of the Phillies clubhouse where all of the extra leather chairs, once used by players, were lined up in two rows. His suit jacket hung in an empty locker, and he fiddled with his phone as the rest of the Phillies dressed for their charter flight back to Philadelphia. Two days earlier, Stutes learned he would be making the trip with the team. So instead of searching for an apartment in Allentown, he is going to Citizens Bank Park with an uncertain outcome.

CLEARWATER, Fla. - Dressed in street clothes, Michael Stutes packed his belongings into a red Phillies duffel bag and walked out the back door of the clubhouse Friday. It was early in the morning and with the roster trimmed even further, the usual clamor of the room was silenced. The 24-year-old righthander passed a table in the middle of the room where Cliff Lee sat alone eating breakfast. Their eyes met, and Lee nodded his head; words not necessary. Across the room, Vance Worley gathered his things together and said his goodbyes.

FORT MYERS, Fla. - Charlie Manuel described Michael Stutes as still being a long shot to make the team after the righthanded reliever survived the Phillies' first cuts Friday. Maybe those odds became a little less long Sunday when Stutes delivered three scoreless innings in his first start since his 2009 season at double-A Reading. Facing a lineup that included Justin Morneau and Jim Thome, Stutes did not allow a hit and faced only nine batters as the Phillies registered a 6-3 Grapefruit League win over a split-squad Minnesota Twins team at Hammond Stadium.

GWINNETT, Ga. - Chris Resop held the Lehigh Valley IronPigs to one hit in seven innings as the Gwinnett Braves prevailed, 4-1, on Saturday night in an International League game. The IronPigs finished with a single run, which they got in the ninth off the Braves' Cory Gearrin, and four hits (two by leadoff hitter Chris Duffy). Lehigh Valley starter Andrew Carpenter fell to 3-4 after yielding four earned runs in seven innings. The IronPigs are 13-22 this season. Akron 5, Reading 0 AKRON, Ohio - Tim Fedroff's three-run triple off Reading reliever Michael Stutes in the sixth inning proved lethal for the Phillies in the Eastern League game.

Domonic Brown led off the ninth inning with a double and then scored later on Kevin Mahar's single to give the Reading Phillies a 1-0 win over the Binghamton Mets yesterday in the Eastern League. Michael Stutes scattered both Mets hits over seven innings and struck out nine batters. Reliever Sergio Escalona tossed two hitless innings to complete the shutout. Buffalo 3, Lehigh Valley 0 BUFFALO, N.Y. - Tobi Stoner scattered four hits over six innings to get the win for the Bisons before relievers Jon Switzer and Adam Bostick preserved the shutout over Kyle Kendrick and the IronPigs in the International League.

Wilkin De La Rosa and Grant Duff combined on a one-hitter last night as the Trenton Thunder beat the Reading Phillies, 10-0, in the Eastern League. De La Rosa allowed a leadoff single to Mike Spidale in the seventh inning. He retired the first 17 batters before walking Brad Harman in the sixth. Duff shut down Reading in the eighth and ninth. Lehigh Valley 7, Rochester 4 ROCHESTER, N.Y. - David Newhan's three doubles and two RBIs helped Andrew Carpenter and the IronPigs beat the Red Wings in the International League.

Rodrigo Lopez struck out seven in seven innings to lead the Lehigh Valley IronPigs past the Indianapolis Indians, 6-3, in the International League last night. New Hampshire 9, Reading 4 READING - Michael Taylor was 3 for 5 with two RBIs and homered for the third straight game, but the Phillies lost the Eastern League game. Akron 5, Trenton 2 AKRON, Ohio - Nicholas Weglarz slugged a grand slam to key a five-run eighth inning as the Aeros posted the Eastern League victory.

READING - Tuffy Gosewisch's solo homer in the bottom of the fourth inning became the deciding run in the Reading Phillies' a 2-1 victory over the Bowie Baysox last night in the Eastern League. Winning pitcher Michael Stutes scattered two hits and struck out eight batters in six shutout innings. Trenton 6, New Britain 3 TRENTON - Chris Malec's RBI double completed a three-run rally for the Thunder in the bottom of the sixth inning to beat the Rock Cats in the Eastern League.