Bowden looked pretty sharp tonight. His fastball command was much better than the last two times I've seen him, and in honor of Keith Law, he threw a lot more change-ups than usual. Overall, his off-speed-to-fastball ratio was higher than what I've typically seen. His fastball of choice was the 2-seamer (88-91), which he was spotting very well. He also mixed in a handful of 4-seamers (92-93) later in the outing, getting swings-and-misses and popups. He threw about the same number of change-ups (80-85) as curve balls (75-79). He commanded both pretty well, although he bounced a couple curves in front of the plate. Strikeouts on: CB, 75, swinging; FB (2S), 91, swinging; FB (4S, I think), swinging; CH 83 (generous check swing call, but it was a good pitch).

On Reading's first hit in the fifth, Suarez made a great diving stop deep in the hole, but had no chance to throw the runner out. The next base hit, a solid line drive down right field line, was the only real solid contact of the night. On the liner that Bowden caught in the third, Appert did a nice job squaring up a curve ball, but if it had gotten by Bowden, I think it would have been scooped up by a MI for a groundout. I was really surprised to see him pulled after five--he was at 64 pitches, with 48 strikes. Perhaps they're starting to dial back his innings, but I wouldn't be shocked if this ended up being his last AA start.

Bard was pretty wild tonight. He seemed to have his command against the first two batters he faced, but then he really lost it. One thing that I found interesting was how much harder he was throwing his curve tonight. Usually I've seen it 75-77 or so with a pretty big looping action, but tonight it was 80-81 with a tighter breaking action that I liked. He was about 50-50 getting it in the zone.

As was already mentioned, Jimenez made a couple nice plays in the field. A good backhand pick behind the bag in the first and a very strong throw to get the out. He has a gun. Then a nice charging play on the bunt in the 4th. However, there was also a single down the line in the sixth that I think a number of third basemen would have gotten to. To be fair, it was harder hit than the ball in the first and I'm not sure how far off the line JJ was originally positioned. Jimenez also showed good discipline in his AB in the 7th and ended up smacking a solid liner to right for a single.

Mark Wagner just loves hitting at Hadlock. Six of his 7 homers have been at home and it's not like they've been cheap shots. I'd call tonight's blast a good 370 feet. It sailed over the the right corner of the Monster. He also ripped a line drive to left, but overestimated his own speed, getting thrown out at second, and hit a fly to deep center.

Daeges made a nice catch in the 9th, leaping against the wall to snag a hard fly. He looked pretty awkward doing it, but he got the job done.

EDIT: I almost forgot the best part of the game: the Reading players were sporting the retro Phillies powder blues!

Also, I would say that while Bowden is mostly about spotting his pitches, he will challenge hitters when he is throwing the 4-seamer. It's definitely more of a strikeout pitch.