On Saturday night at Coca-Cola Park, the Lehigh Valley IronPigs (39-32) faced off against the Norfolk Tides (34-37) in game five of the series.
Bailey Falter (3-0, 1.54 ERA) was on the mound for the IronPigs, while the Tides started Chris Vallimont (0-0, 0.00 ERA), who was making his Triple-A debut.
At the top of the first inning, Bailey Falter hit Terrin Vavra, putting him on first base. Then, he got Jordan Westburg to pop out, followed by striking out Gunnar Henderson for the second out. During Kyle Stewers’ plate appearance, Terrin Vavra stole second base before Stowers singled to right field, bringing Vavra home for a 1-0 Tides lead. Bailey Falter got Jacob Nottingham to fly out for the final out of the inning.
In the bottom of the first inning, the IronPigs tied the game 1-1 on a solo home run by Dalton Guthrie that went into the IronPigs’ bullpen at left field.
Moving ahead to the bottom of the third inning, the IronPigs took a commanding lead. After a double by Mickey Moniak, Dalton Guthrie followed up with an RBI double to the corner of left field, scoring Moniak for a 2-1 lead. Two batters later, Dustin Peterson doubled past a leaping Jordan Westburg and into left field, scoring Guthrie for a 3-1 lead.
Dustin Peterson would advance to third base on a balk call by Chris Vallimont while Rafael Marchan was up at-bat. Marchan hit a sacrifice fly to center field, bringing Peterson home, and it was 4-1 IronPigs.
IronPigs’ left fielder Jorge Bonifacio singled, followed by a double from Dalton Guthrie with Scott Kingery coming to the plate. Kingery singled on a sharp line drive to left field, bringing home both runners for a 6-1 lead with two outs. Unfortunately, Daniel Robertson grounded out for the final out. This was the third straight game in which the IronPigs scored more than five runs. In the previous two, they blew them.
The IronPigs added two more runs in the bottom of the fifth inning. Tim Naughton was the Tides’ new pitcher. He walked Jorge Bonifacio. During Will Toffey’s plate appearance, Bonifacio stole second base. Toffey ended up striking out. Scott Kingery was the next batter. Naughton threw a wild pitch on a 4-0 count, walking Kingery. Bonifacio went to third base, and Kingery reached second base. Then, Naughton walked Daniel Robertson that loaded the bases.
Tim Naughton was taken out and replaced by Logan Allen. Allen struck out Mickey Moniak for the second out. Then, Dalton Guthrie singled on a sharp ground ball to center field, adding two more runs, 8-1. Lehigh Valley did not add any more runs as Darick Hall flew out to right field for the final out of the inning.
IronPigs’ starter Bailey Falter was on fire after giving up a run early in the game. He got Davis Tavarez to pop out, followed by back-to-back groundouts from Terrin Vavra and Jordan Westburg for the final outs of the inning. This would be Falter’s last inning. He went six innings, allowing one hit, one run, no walks, and five strikeouts.
Ofreidy Gomez took over for Falter at the top of the seventh inning. He got the first two batters out, followed by walking Jacob Nottingham and giving up a single to Dylan Harris. Then, Gomez got Cadyn Grenier to ground out that retired the side.
In the bottom of the seventh inning, the IronPigs scored their final run of the game. First, Mickey Moniak doubled and advanced to third base on a wild pitch by Blaine Knight. Dalton Guthrie ended up striking out. Then Darick Hall, the next batter, hit a single to right field, bringing home Moniak. The IronPigs lead was now 9-1. That was it for the scoring as Freddy Francisco struck out, and Rafael Marchan grounded out to retire the side.
Braeden Ogle pitched in the bottom of the eighth inning and gave up a couple of hits. Then, Nick Duron closed out the game at the top of the ninth inning. He struck out Gunnar Henderson, followed by a Kyle Stowers ground out, and finally striking out Isaac Mattson, ending the game. The IronPigs won 9-1.
Unlike the last two, it was nice to see the IronPigs come away with a win. They were disciplined on the field and put together a nice set of bats.
The IronPigs will have a chance to win the series today at 1:35 pm. Tickets for the game can be purchased on StubHub, and pick up IronPigs merchandise at Fanatics.com.
