Lost in Blanton mania is an absolutely fantastic start by JA Happ in AAA Lehigh Valley.
Last night Happ pitched seven no-hit innings, striking out 12 in the process against Scranton-Wilkes Barre. The game was rescheduled from before the All-Star break, originally started by Brian Mazone. So in essence, Happ threw a no-hitter and was a walk from a perfect game.
Happ threw 102 pitches, 71 for strikes. He was on his game. And clearly, he’s making a case to come back to Philadelphia and into a now-crowded Phillies rotation. After the Blanton acquisition, one could say Happ is the odd-man out, but this latest outing makes it very hard to keep him from the equation.
Tim MalcolmTim first found the Phillies as a little infant at Veteran’s Stadium, cheering on a Juan Samuel game-winning home run in his very first game. With the pinstripes in his blood, he witnessed Terry Mulholland’s 1990 no-hitter, “Steve Carlton Night” at the Vet, game three of the 1993 World Series, countless games during the charmed 2008 championship season and various road excursions. Since November 2007 Tim’s been writing about them daily at Phillies Nation, becoming one of the world’s most popular Phillies scribes. You can catch him on Twitter and Facebook, as well. When he’s not talking about the Phils he’s relaxing with a St. Bernardus ABT 12 or one of his many favored brews.
