The Lehigh Valley IronPigs played game two Wednesday night at Coca-Cola Park against the Rochester Red Wings. They were looking to win two in a row after winning the opener 6-5 Tuesday night. Spencer Howard got the start for the IronPigs, while the Red Wings sent Steven Fuentes to the mound.
After Spencer Howard took care of business in the top of the first inning, it was Lehigh Valley’s turn. Jean Segura, who is on a rehab assignment, doubled to center field. Travis Jankowski’s single moved Segura to third base. Luke Williams was the next batter up, and he struck out.
Next up was Darick Hall. Hall singled on a sharp ground ball to right field to score Segura, and the IronPigs were up 1-0. C.J. Chatham, the next batter, singled to third base scoring Jankowski to extend Lehigh Valley’s lead 2-0.
Spencer Howard struck out his second batter at the top of the second inning. The following two batters, he was able to get them to fly out. Jean Segura was hit on the hand in the bottom of the second inning but stayed in the game. He would advance to second on a wild pitch. Travis Jankowski walked, and Luke Williams singled to right field to score Segura as the IronPigs extended their lead to 3-0.
Iron Pigs pitcher Rob Kaminsky replaced Spencer Howard after he walked Tyler Eppler to start the third inning. Kaminsky struggled on his first two batters but got Jake Noll to pop up. He then struck out the next two batters to end the top of the third. C.J Chatham started the bottom of the third inning by hitting a double. Cornelius Randolph grounded out and moved Chatham to third. Edgar Cabral grounded out to score Chatham to make it a 4-0 lead.
Jean Segura was taken out of the game in the fourth inning and replaced by Austin Listi. David Parkinson was the new pitcher for the IronPigs. The Red Wings started to chip away at Lehigh Valley’s lead. After Parkinson walked Rafael Bautista, a Tyler Eppler single, and Luis Garcia walk, Carter Kieboom singled to left field to score two runners to cut the IronPigs lead in half 4-2.
The IronPigs were unable to add any runs in the bottom of the fourth inning. After Parkinson was able to get Daniel Palka to pop out, he gave up two straight singles. Welington Castillo doubled to left field to cut Lehigh Valley’s lead 4-3. Parkinson would then throw a wild pitch, scoring Ramon Flores to tie the game. After a mound visit, Parkinson gave up a double to Rafael Bautista to put Rochester up 5-4.
Kyle Dohy would replace Parkinson after that. He would throw a wild pitch before striking out Luis Garcia to end the inning. Iron Pigs struck back with a double by Luke Williams. Then Darick Hall reached base on a fielding error, scoring Williams to tie the game at five apiece.
In the sixth inning, Kyle Dohy got Kieboom to fly out but walked Jake Noll. After striking out Daniel Palka, Yasmany Tomas hit a two-run home run to put the Red Wings up 7-5. Bryan Mitchell relieved Dohy in the seventh inning. He was able to get Rafael Bautista to ground out into a double play and Blake Swihart to strike out to keep the game at 7-5.
The IronPigs were unable to score in the bottom of the seventh inning. In the eighth, Iron Pigs pitcher Bryan Mitchell got Garcia to fly out, Kieboom to ground out, and Noll to fly out. Lehigh Valley was now back at bat. The Red Wings made a pitching change, putting Kyle McGowin in for Andres Machado. Sal Gozzo replaced Mitchell at-bat and walked, followed by Austin Listi, who got hit. Travis Jankowski hit a sacrifice bunt, but a fielding error loaded the bases.
Luke Williams was up next, and he singled to left field to bring Gozzo home. The Iron Pigs cut the Red Wings lead 7-6. Two batters later, Cornelius Randolph singled to bring home Jankowski to tie the game at seven apiece.
Sal Gozzo took over second base for the ninth inning, and Neftali Feliz was the new pitcher for the IronPigs. Feliz did his job to keep the game tied, and the IronPigs were up at bat. Josh Stephens started the bottom of the ninth with a walk, followed by a failed bunt attempt by Sal Gozzo.
Austin Listi struck out, and Travis Jankowski was intentionally walked. This brought up Luke Williams. Red Wings pitcher Joan Baez threw a wild pitch, and both Stephens and Jankowski advanced. He then threw another wild pitch, and Stephens scored to give the IronPigs an 8-7 win.
The IronPigs are now 2-0, and Neftali Feliz got the win while Baez ended up with the loss. Spencer Howard finished the night going two innings, allowing one hit, two walks, and two strikeouts. Left-handed pitcher Bailey Falter will start for the IronPigs against the Red Wings on Thursday at 7:05 pm.
