While Greg Dobbs was taking a third strike right down the pike against the most irritating, obnoxious, and even more irritatingly, best, closer in baseball, righty Jason Anderson celebrated his 30th birthday by nailing down a save of his own for the Reading Phillies. In doing so, he preserved the win for Kyle Drabek, his second in his two starts with the R-Phils.

In spite of Hurricane Schwartz’s warnings of red radar blobs over Reading, it was a beautiful night in Berks County for some AA baseball. Drabek wasn’t in tiptop form, but he wasn’t horrible, either. While he scattered seven hits and five walks over five innings, he worked out of several jams. His bullpen picked him up too, including one Mike Zagurski who was consistently in the mid-90s and, at least once, hit 96. A three-run first-inning cushion on a homerun by third baseman Neil Sellers didn’t hurt matters.

Michael Taylor DH’d in the 5-4 win over the Yankees’ AA Trenton Thunder, laying an 0-for-4, but he’s still sporting the Reading triple crown at .346/10/41. It seems like only a matter of time before he’s bumped up to Lehigh Valley where, presumably, the 6’6″ 250lb righthanded slugger would share the outfield with a 6’6″ 235lb righthanded slugger called Big John. And for what it’s worth, the 6’5″ 205lb lefthanded outfielder Dominic Brown has put up a .299/9/28 in 51 games at Single-A Clearwater.

Anyway, last night was a truly beautiful evening at First Energy Stadium, one for drinking the Stoudt’s APAs and Yuengling Lagers each brewed less than an hour away, one for catching a preview of a future Phil on the hill, and one for watching a pink and purple sunset over the third best Minor League Baseball stadium — best in AA — according to Baseball America.

beelove (a/k/a R. Bradley Maule) is the proprietor of the fantastic Philadelphia photography/architecture site, PhillySkyline.com.  He went to the Reading Phillies game.  He reported. He took pictures.

More pics from the game, after the jump.

In order: Kyle Drabek, Kyle Drabek, Neil Sellers, Michael Taylor, Michael Taylor, Mike Zagurski

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