The Lehigh Valley IronPigs (42-48) fell to the Rochester Red Wings (37-52) Friday night 7-2 at Frontier Field. The game marked the return of outfielder Cornelius Randolph, who was out with a right elbow sprain. Randolph last played for the IronPigs on May 30th.
Cristopher Sanchez (4-4, 3.48 ERA) started for Lehigh Valley against Rochester’s Austin Voth (0-0, 0.00 ERA).
The game was scoreless in the first four innings. However, in the bottom of the fifth inning, with the bases loaded, a bulk was called against IronPigs pitcher Damon Jones that put the Red Wings up 1-0. After that Damon Jones walked Red Wings right fielder Daniel Palka. Then Red Wings left fielder Nick Banks followed with a two-run RBI single to left field, scoring two runs for a 3-0 lead. Two batters later, Red Wings second baseman Ali Castillo singled to right field, adding another run 4-0.
At the top of the eighth inning, with a runner on first base, IronPigs right fielder Cornelius Randolph crushed a two-run home run that cut the Red Wings lead to 4-2.
In the bottom of the eighth inning, with the bases loaded, the Red Wings got those two runs back after catcher Keibert Ruiz’s two-run RBI single to right field that made it 6-2. Then, two batters later, a wild pitch by IronPigs pitcher Ramon Rosso scored another run for the Red Wings 7-2.
At the top of the ninth inning, Kyle McGowin was the new pitcher for the Red Wings. He got the first two outs before the Red Wings made another pitching change with Patrick Murphy for McGowin. However, Patrick Murphy struck out IronPigs first baseman Darick Hall to end the game, and the IronPigs lose to the Red Wings 7-2.
The win went to Red Wings pitcher Ben Braymer (6.0 IP, 2 H, 2 R, 2 ER, 1 BB, 5 SO, 1 HR), while the loss went to Cristopher Sanchez (4.0 IP, 6 H, 3 R, 3 ER, 3 BB, 6 SO). It was Sanchez’s fourth loss of the season.
Both teams will play another doubleheader today, starting at 12:05 pm. Both games will be played in seven innings. The starting pitchers for both teams will be announced later.
