Tom Gordon continues his rehab with the Threshers

Phillies reliever Tom Gordon is still continuing his rehab with the Threshers. He started yesterday's game against the Ft. Myers Miracle at Bright House Networks Field. He threw for 1.2 innings giving up only one hit before making way for regular Threshers starter Andrew Carpenter.

Updated at 3:35pm: This article in the Cherry Hill Courier-Post says that Gordon will make an appearance for the Threshers again on Wednesday, and possibly return to Philadelphia by the weekend.

Matt Thayer returns to Threshers lineup

Matt Thayer returned to the Clearwater Threshers lineup yesterday after missing over a month with an injury.

Thayer last saw action with the Threshers on May 21 in St. Lucie.

He played both DH and LF yesterday in the win against the Miracle, getting one hit in his four at-bats.

Thayer rehabbed with the GCL Phillies on July 3 and 4. He hit .333 and scored four runs in Gulf Coast League action.

Welcome: Ft. Myers Miracle

The Ft. Myers Miracle are here for a three game set starting today (Sunday) at 1pm. They come in to the series with a 27-34 record and on a two game winning streak. They are 6-4 in their last 10 games. Ft. Myers is 0-3 at Bright House Networks Field in 2007.

Reliever Eddie Morlan is the lone FSL All-Star representative who is still on their current roster. He is 4-2 with a 2.48 ERA and has eight saves. He has struck out 46 in 32.2 innings. In his four appearances against the Threshers, he is 1-1 with a 11.81 ERA. He has one save. He has struck out nine Threshers in just 5.1 innings. Morlan was a third round pick of the Minnesota Twins in 2004.

Since the promotion of Ryan Mullins to Double-A, Oswaldo Sosa appears to be the ace of the current bunch. In 12 starts, Sosa's record is 2-3 with a 2.61 ERA. In three starts against the Threshers, Sosa is 0-1 with a 3.46 ERA. He has struck out 13 Threshers in 13 innings of work.

As a team, the Miracle have the worst batting average in the entire FSL. They are hitting .223 with just 22 home runs. They are batting .208 with one home run in their nine games against the Threshers this season. Outfielder Erik Lis leads Miracle batters in games against the Threshers. He is batting .323 with six RBIs in eight games against the Threshers.

The pitching stats are polar opposite. Miracle pitching is statistically the best in the league with a 2.93 ERA. Despite that stellar ERA, you find two Ft. Myers pitchers (Jay Rainville and Zachary Ward) tied for last in the league in losses with seven. Neither Rainville or Ward has a loss against the Threshers.

Lou Marson (.391) and Greg Golson (.333) lead Threshers batters against Miracle pitching. The Threshers have yet to hit a home run against the Miracle this season.

Josh Outman leads Threshers pitchers against the Miracle. In his two starts against the Miracle, he is 2-0 with a 0.77 ERA. He has struck out 12 and given up just six hits in 11.2 innings. Miracle batters are hitting .154 against him.

Threshers closer Brett Harker has three of his 11 saves against the Miracle.

If the pattern holds, look for the Threshers to win tonight

The Threshers and Ft. Myers Miracle have met eight times so far this season going into tonight's ballgame at Hammond Stadium.

The Threshers won the first series at Ft. Myers 2-1. Clearwater swept the home series 3-0 . With last night's 10-inning loss in the books, these teams stand at a 1-1 tie on this trip. So, if the pattern holds, look for the Threshers to head home with a victory.

What is your prediction for tonight's game? I'm going with a 4-3 Threshers victory.

A look at a current Thresher: Michael Zagurski

Michael Zagurski has been coming out of the bullpen for the Threshers since the start of the season. He's picked up fives saves in his first 11 appearances. Zagurski has only struggled once this season, giving up his only two runs of the year in a road game at Tampa in the middle of April. His current ERA is 1.17 over 15.1 innings pitched.

He is holding opponents to a .102 batting average. Of the 56 batters he has faced this year, 29 were struck out. Only five have gotten a hit against him.

Here is a closer look at a few of his outings:

4/11 Home vs. Tampa - Struck out five of seven batters faced.

4/13 Home vs. Lakeland - Struck out three of four batters faced.

4/17 Away vs. Tampa - Struck out both batters faced and picked up a save.

4/21 Home vs. Sarasota - Struck out only batter faced and picked up a save.

4/26 Road vs. Lakeland - Struck out five of eight batters faced.

4/30 Home vs. Ft. Myers - Struck out four of six batters faced.

5/9 Home vs. Vero Beach - Struck out all three batters he faced and picked up a save.

Zagurski, age 24, is a 6'0" 225lb left-hander out of Omaha, Nebraska. He was drafted out of the University of Kansas by the Phillies in the 12th round of the 2005 draft. He spent the rest of the 2005 season with Batavia. He struck out 75 out of the 231 batters he faced last season while with Lakewood.

Checking the FSL League Leaders

Prior to the games of July 18, 2006

OF Branden Florence is moving up the charts in batting average. He's up to the fifth position with his .314 batting average. His 331 at bats is tops for all batters in the Top 10. Florence is number 2 in the league in hits with 104, just behind Alexi Casilla of the Ft. Myers Miracle (107).

OF Brian Burgamy is fourth in the league in OBP with a .395 average. He leads the league in runs scored with 72.

P Andrew Baldwin is in fourth in innings pitched with 110.2.

Randy Wolf ok after being hit on knuckles

We received a scare last night when Phillies pitcher Randy Wolf was knocked out of the game early after being hit on the hand by a batted ball. It happened in the third inning of the first game of the doubleheader between the Threshers and the Miracle.

According to a Philadelphia Inquirer story, he was taken to Morton Plant Hospital (Clearwater) and received X-rays which came back ok.
Updated 4:21pm According to Phillies officials, his next rehab start was scheduled for 6/18. That has now been pushed back to a date to be determined later.

This same story also speculates that former Thresher Scott Mathieson might be brought up to Philadelphia from Reading (AA) to start on Saturday. The Phillies rotation has been hit hard by injuries over the last month or so and is waiting for Jon Lieber and Randy Wolf to get healthy again.

Half Day Today

It's Friday in the Threshers offices and since their is no ballgame tonight, most of us will be able to get out around Noon. This is a great time to run errands, play golf, or do whatever it is you need to do during normal business hours that you don't usually get to do.

The Ticket Office will still be open until 4pm if you need to come down and purchase tickets for any remaining Threshers game this summer. Don't forget that the Threshers return home for a 3 game series against the Miracle this Sunday (1:05pm).

4/27 Game Thread - Miracle 8 @ Threshers 6 F

Ft. Myers takes early 1-0 lead in the 2nd inning.

Threshers storm back to take 2-1 lead in the 3rd inning.

Threshers knock in 2 more in 4th inning to take 4-1 lead.

Ft. Myers scores 5 in the 6th inning to re-take lead 6-4.

Threshers score 2 in the bottom of the 6th to tie it up 6-6.

Ft. Myers scores 2 in the top of the 9th to re-take the lead and win the ballgame.

See the Threshers Capture First Place

The Threshers have been playing great baseball this season and have a chance to take over first place tonight vs. Fort Myers!