Phillies first-round pick Jesse Biddle officially made the
move to Williamsport on Saturday with his first New York-Penn League outing.
Biddle faced a former Phillies farm club, the Batavia MuckDogs and pitched four
innings, giving up just one run on three hits and two walks. Biddle also struck
out four and recorded a no-decision after leaving the game trailing 1-0.
After Biddle walked one hitter and hit another with a pitch
in the second inning, he still had a shot at getting out of the inning thanks to
the two strikeouts that he recorded in the inning. Adam Melker singled to drive
in one run in the inning and Biddle gave up another walk to load the bases
before getting a groundball to work out of the inning and stranding three
runners on the bases.
After Biddle left the game, Batavia plated another un, but
Aaron Altherr's two-run double tied the game at 2-2 after seven innings.
Reliever Juan Sosa (1-2, 2.37) gave up a two-run double in
the eighth and allowed another run in the ninth and took the loss.
The loss hurt Williamsport's playoff chances, putting them
one-game behind Batavia in the wildcard race. Williamsport has now also lost
nine of their last 12 games.
Biddle joined Williamsport from the Gulf Coast League
Phillies, where he made nine starts and posted a 3-1 record with a 4.32 ERA in
the GCL.