Phillippe Aumont Pigs

Phillippe Aumont's next start will come for the Phillies Friday night. (Matt Smith | lehighvalleylive.com file photo)

UPDATE: IronPigs pitcher Phillippe Aumont has taken different path back to Phillies

Phillippe Aumont believed that his way back up to the big leagues would be as a starting pitcher.

Two months after beginning the transition from a reliever, Aumont has punched a ticket to Philadelphia.

Aumont will start Friday night for the Phillies at Citizens Bank Park against the St. Louis Cardinals, taking the place of Cole Hamels, who was scratched with a mild right hamstring strain.

The 26-year old Quebec native has been the Lehigh Valley IronPigs' best starter this year, with a 2.35 ERA over 14 games -- 10 of them starts.

In his last start on Sunday, Aumont threw 5.2 scoreless innings against Norfolk, striking out nine and walking five.

As a starter, Aumont has issued 46 strikeouts to 33 walks. His best outing came May 13 when he tossed seven shutout innings, striking out seven and walking none.

"It happened for a reason and it led to this," Aumont said after that start. "Hopefully I can keep doing what I'm doing right now. That was the road I had to take. It's all positive things even though there's some negative in there. It's all part of the experience and learning and finding your groove, finding that click. So far, it feels good."

Aumont did walk a season-high eight batters two starts later, after which he said he was "flustered" by the sun, but he was still able to limit the damage to two earned runs over five innings.

Greg Joyce may be reached at gjoyce@lehighvalleylive.com. Follow him on Twitter @GJoyce9.