Bouknight baffles former club

P.J. Forbes congratulates Greg Golson after he ripped his third homer of the season in the fourth inning.

By Tony Zonca

Reading, PA -- Kip Bouknight and Patrick Overholt combined on a two-hitter, Greg Golson and Jeremy Slayden took care of the hitting, and the Phillies ended a three-game losing streak Friday night with a 3-0 victory over the Altoona Curve.

Bouknight (3-3) pitched two-hit ball the first seven innings and Overholt finished for his eighth save.

The first three innings, the game's only hit came off the bat of Bouknight, a third-inning bunt single off tough-luck loser Kyle Bloom (0-3).

Bouknight, who was in the Curve rotation last season, was working on a no-hitter till James Boone smacked a clean single to center with one out in the sixth.  Bouknight got into trouble when he hit a batter and walked another to load the bases with two out.  He got the Curve's best hitter, Jason Delaney, to ground to third to end the threat.

In the seventh, Milver Reyes doubled with two out, but was stranded on a comebacker to the mound.

Bouknight struck out five and walked two.  The only runner to reach against Overholt came as the result of a two-out, two-base error in the third.  He lowered his ERA to a puny 0.96.

For seven innings, the game's only run was produced by Golson, when he ripped his third home run of the season to left in the fourth inning.

The Phillies (16-18), who were held to four hits over the first seven innings, finally broke through in the eighth.  With the bases loaded and two out, Slayden singled sharply to right off Josh Shortslef to score two runs and up his team-high RBI total to 24. 

PHILLERS: With a fourth-inning walk, Lou Marson improved his league-best on-base streak to 23 games. . . . Finishing 0-for-2 with two walks, Marson lost a nine-game hitting streak. . . . Greg Golson was leading the Philadelphia organization in hits (40), stolen bases (11), runs (22) and doubles (8, with two others). . . .  According to Phillies radio play-by-play man Steve Degler, 13 of Jeremy Slayden's 24 RBIs have come with two out. . . . The Phillies are 3-1 in shutout games, 5-7 in one-run games. . . . They are 6-2 vs. Altoona, 10-16 against the rest.

PLAYER MOVES:  Utilityman Joey Hammond, who began the season on the Reading roster, returned to the R-Phils from Lehigh Valley, where he batted .219 in 20 games.  Hammond batted .333 for the R-Phils in eight games.  The addition puts Reading's roster at the maximum 24 allowed.

PLAY OF THE GAME:  With one out and Neil Sellers on third in the seventh inning, Altoona relief pitcher Josh Shortslef turned a line drive by pinch-hitter Juan Tejeda into a 1-5 double play.

DID YOU KNOW THAT a scout in northern California once drove 90 miles to watch a young Larry Bowa play, only to sit dismayed while the fiery shortstop got thrown out in the first inning of both games of a double-header? 

This story was posted on May 9, 2008