There’s a buck night at Jerry Uht Park tonight, but fans of good pitching should plan to visit the Uht on Tuesday at 6:35 p.m.

The Reading Fightin Phils’ Jesse Biddle is scheduled to start against the Erie SeaWolves’ Warwick Saupold.

Biddle is the Philadelphia Phillies’ top prospect and is one of the best left-handed pitchers in the minors.

The 6-4, 225-pound 21-year-old recently was named the Eastern League’s Player of the Month. On April 22, Biddle was perfect through six innings against the Harrisburg Senators. Biddle finished that game with 16 strikeouts in just seven innings of work.

Biddle is 2-2  this season with a 2.70 ERA. He has 45 strikeouts in 36.2 innings. He has a WHIP below 1.00.

If you go to the game, notice Biddle’s three above-average pitches. He has a fastball that usually hits 94. He has improved his changeup and his curve can be a nasty strikeout pitch. Last year in the Florida State League, Biddle led the league in Ks. He projects as a future No. 2 starter for the Phils.

Here’s more coverage on Biddle:

http://www.csnphilly.com/baseball-philadelphia-phillies/phillies-officials-buzzing-about-jesse-biddles-16k-effort

http://www.philly.com/philly/sports/phillies/Fightins_Biddle_named_EL_Player_of_Month.html

– Rick Green

READING — The Erie SeaWolves wrapped up a three-game series against the Reading Fightin Phils with an 8-5 loss Sunday at FirstEnergy Stadium.

The ‘Wolves (4-5) trailed 7-2 but scored two in the seventh to cut the lead to three runs.

Reading responded with one in the bottom of the seventh, but the ‘Wolves scored twice in the top of the eighth and had the bases loaded with one out.

Erie’s Luis Castillo, however, grounded into a double-play to end the inning.

The Fightin Phils (6-4) took control of the game with a four-run fouth inning, highlighted by Albert Cartwright’s two-run homer.

Erie’s Matt Crouse (1-1) was tagged with the loss. He gave up three earned runs on five hits. He walked one batter and struck out two in 2 2/3 innings.

Brody Colvin (1-0) picked up his first win for the Fightin Phils. He gave up two earned runs in six innings.

– from staff reports

READING — Wade Gaynor’s grand slam in the fourth inning broke open a close game as the Erie SeaWolves cruised to a 9-5 win over the Reading Fightin Phils Saturday at FirstEnergy Stadium.

Luis Castillo and Daniel Fields singled to start the inning, and Jamie Johnson’s walk loaded the bases before Gaynor’s blast to left gave Erie a commanding 8-3 lead.

Erie (4-4) evened the weekend series at one apiece, rendering today’s 1:35 p.m. game a rubber match.

The SeaWolves took advantage of Reading starter Austin Wright’s wildness in the second inning when Wright walked five Erie hitters in a row with no outs, leading to his departure. Castillo’s sacrifice fly and Hernan Perez’s RBI groundout off Juan Sosa gave Erie a 4-1 lead. All four runs were charged to Wright despite not having surrendered a hit in one-plus innings.

Reading  (5-4) immediately responded when John Suomi homered to lead off the bottom half of the inning, and shortstop Edgar Duran hit a two-out RBI single to make it 4-3.

Erie starter Victor Larez gave up three runs in the first two innings before settling down to earn his first win.

– from staff reports

The Erie SeaWolves had an unusual second inning this evening.

Trailing 1-0 to the Reading Fightin Phils, Erie opened the inning with five straight walks off of pitcher Austin Wright.

After a pitching change to bring in Juan Sosa, the next batter up, Luis Castillo, hit a sacrifice fly, scoring James McCann.

After another walk, Hernan Perez grounded into a force play, scoring Brandon Douglas.

Jamie Johnson ended the inning with a ground out.

The damage: four runs with no hits. The SeaWolves had six walks in the inning.

– Rick Green

READING — A two-run second-inning rally proved too much to overcome for the Erie SeaWolves tonight as they lost 3-1 to the Reading Fightin Phils at FirstEnergy Stadium.

Erie (3-4) got into Reading’s bullpen, forcing the Phils (5-3) to use four pitchers, but managed just six hits overall. No Erie batter managed more than one hit.

SeaWolves starter Warwick Saupold (0-1) pitched well in defeat, allowing seven hits and two earned runs over seven innings while striking out eight and walking just one.

The Phils scored the only runs they’d need in the second inning off Saupold.

The SeaWolves scored their only run when Phils reliever Jay Johnson plunked Wade Gaynor with the bases loaded, forcing home a run to cut the lead to 3-1.

Erie plays at Reading today at 6:05 p.m.

– from staff reports

3 days to go: Are you a morning person?

There are three games scheduled to start at 11:05 a.m. at Jerry Uht Park this season, all in May.

The Wolves host the Reading Fightin’ Phils on Wednesday, May 15, followed by back-to-back games against the Harrisburg Senators on May 22-23.

– Rick Green (follow me @ETNrgreen)

The Peoria Javelinas won the 2012 Arizona Fall League championship with Saturday’s 4-3 victory over the Salt River Rafters in the title game at Scottsdale.

Peoria won the league’s West Division with a 19-13-0 record, while Salt River was the East Division pennant winner at 17-13-2.

Salt River was in the same division with the Mesa Solar Sox, whose roster included farmhands of the Detroit Tigers and former Erie SeaWolves. Mesa had the league’s worst record at 10-20-2.

– Mike Copper

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Relief pitcher Tyler Clark, who competed for the Erie SeaWolves during their 2012 season, saved the Mesa Solar Sox’s 4-3 victory over Phoenix as part of Thursday’s Arizona Fall League action.

Clark came in for Mesa with two outs and runners at first and third in the top of the ninth inning. The right-hander came through by retiring the Desert Dogs’ Joc Pederson on a line out to left field.

Former SeaWolves catcher Brian McCann was 0-for-3 for Mesa, now 8-16 overall in the league’s East Division.

– Mike Copper

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The Akron Aeros forced a fifth and deciding game in their Eastern League playoff series against the Bowie Baysox Saturday.

Akron, the Western Division champion, edged the wild-card Baysox 2-1 at Canal Park. The Aeros will have the chance to rally from an 0-2 series defecit if they can beat Bowie in Sunday’s 7:05 p.m. finale.

Trenton remained up 2-1 in its Eastern Division series against Reading when Saturday’s fourth game was postponed by poor weather. The scheduled first pitch for Sunday’s game wasn’t immediately listed by the league.

– Mike Copper

Friday night saw Akron remain alive in its best-of-five Eastern League playoff series against Bowie, while Trenton moved to the brink of eliminating Reading.

The Aeros scored all of their runs in the bottom of the sixth inning of a 4-3 Western Division series victory at Canal Park. The wild-card Baysox still maintain a 2-1 series advantage going into Saturday’s fourth game.

The Thunder scored twice in the bottom of the eighth for their 3-1 Eastern Division win over the Phillies at Waterfront Park. The division titlists can advance to next week’s championship round with a third victory.

– Mike Copper