On Thursday night at Coca-Cola Park, the Lehigh Valley IronPigs (38-31) got their first walk-off win of the season against the Norfolk Tides (33-36) in game three of the series.
Michael Plassmeyer (0-0, 1.69 ERA) was on the mound for the IronPigs, while the Tides started Cody Sedlock (2-1, 5.79 ERA).
At the top of the first inning, Plassmeyer gave up a solo home run to Tides’ second baseman Terrin Vavra that hit the KLYR roof at right field, putting Norfolk up 1-0. Then, Plassmeyer got Jordan Westburg to fly out, Gunner Henderson to fly out, and Kyle Stowers to ground out for the three outs.
The IronPigs responded in the bottom of the first inning. After Cody Sedlock walked Micky Moniak and Drew Maggi, IronPigs’ first baseman Darick Hall singled past a diving first baseman Robert Neustrom and into right field, scoring Moniak that tied the game, 1-1.
Two batters later, with one out and Maggi at third base, Will Toffey struck out as Darick Hall attempted to steal second base. Tides’ catcher Jacob Nottingham threw the ball that got by second baseman Terrin Vavra and Maggi scored, giving the IronPigs a 2-1 lead with two outs. Then, Sedlock hit Jorge Bonifacio before getting Scott Kingery to strike out for the third out.
Moving ahead to the bottom of the second inning, the IronPigs erupted. After Daniel Robertson doubled, IronPigs’ catcher Edgar Cabral hit an RBI double off the right field wall, scoring Robertson for a 3-1 lead. Then, Micky Moniak hit a two-run home run over the KLYR roof, and it was 5-1 IronPigs. Five batters later, with the bases loaded, a sacrifice fly by Jorge Bonifacio brought another run home, and it was 6-1 with two outs. Scott Kingery struck out to end the inning.
At the top of the third inning, the Tides started to trim Lehigh Valley’s lead. First IronPigs’ starter Michael Plassmeyer hit Terrin Vavra on the face. Plassmeyer was shaky in this game and had control issues with his throws. Vavra was kneeling down for several minutes before exiting the game as Jonathan Arauz replaced him. Then, Plassmeyer gave up a two-run home run to Jordan Westburg, cutting the IronPigs’ lead 6-3. Plassmeyer regrouped to get three straight outs.
That would be it for Plassmeyer, who pitched three innings, allowing three hits, three runs, no walks, and two strikeouts in 54 pitches. Corey Oswalt replaced him at the top of the fourth inning.
At the top of the fifth inning, the Tides pulled within two runs. Corey Oswalt gave up back-to-back singles to Jordan Westburg and Gunner Henderson. Then, a sacrifice fly by Kyle Stowers brought in a run, and the IronPigs lead was now 6-4 with one out. Oswalt walked Jacob Nottingham before getting Jonathan Arauz to strike out and Anthony Bemboom to ground out for the final out of the inning. Tyler Cyr replaced Oswalt at the top of the sixth inning.
Tyler Cyr did a great job pitching. At the top of the seventh inning, Cyr got Jordan Westburg to fly out and struck out Gunner Henderson for two outs. Then, in a questionable move by IronPigs manager Anthony Contreras, he pulled Cyr for Michael Kelly. This was not an intelligent move for Contreras. Cyr was doing fine, and the move cost the IronPigs. He finished the night going 1.2 innings, with no hits, no runs, no walks, and two strikeouts.
Kelly walked Kyle Stowers, followed by a single to Jacob Nottingham, moving Stowers to third base. Then, Kelly threw a wild pitch. As Stowers was running to home plate, Kelly went to cover home. However, as Edgar Cabral got the ball and threw it to Kelly, he did not try to catch it; instead, it went by him and past third base, allowing another run to score, tying the game 6-6. This was the second straight game that the IronPigs blew the lead.
Michael Kelly gave up another single to Jonathan Arauz before striking out Anthony Bemboom for the final out of the inning. This would not have happened if Tyler Cyr had stayed in the game.
The IronPigs batters were quiet after scoring five runs in the bottom of the second inning. After that, they only had three hits and two walks until the bottom of the ninth inning. Cole Uvila was pitching for Norfolk. First, Darick Hall doubled on a sharp line drive to right field, and Dalton Guthrie came in as the pinch-runner.
Then, Uvila walked Dustin Peterson, followed by a sacrifice bunt from Will Toffey, moving the runners up with one out. Jorge Bonifacio was up at bat. He drove in the game-winning run on an RBI single to left field, scoring Guthrie as the IronPigs won the game 7-6. It was the IronPigs’ first walk-off win of the season.
While it was nice to see the IronPigs win the game, this shouldn’t have happened. The IronPigs had a five-run lead and let it slip away. They can’t keep allowing teams back in the game. If an IronPigs pitcher is doing his job, there is no need to take them out of the game unless they start making mistakes. Lehigh Valley got lucky and could’ve easily lost the game.
The win went to IronPigs’ relief pitcher Mark Appel (1.0 IP, 0 H, 0 R, 0 BB, 1 SO). It was Appel’s fifth win of the season, and the loss went to Tides’ relief pitcher Cole Uvila (0.1 IP, 2 H, 1 R, 1 BB, 0 SO).
The series continues tonight at 7:05 pm. Tickets for the game can be purchased on StubHub, and pick up IronPigs merchandise today at Fanatics.com.
