On Sunday night at Coca-Cola Park, the Lehigh Valley IronPigs took on the Scranton/Wilkes-Barre RailRiders with a chance to win the series.
Bailey Falter was supposed to start for the IronPigs, but he was called up to Philadelphia and started against the Cubs. The IronPigs went with a bullpen game as James Dykstra (0-0, 2.70 ERA) started for Lehigh Valley, while the RailRiders went with Jhony Brito (4-2, 3.24 ERA).
At the top of the first inning, IronPigs pitcher James Dykstra gave up back-to-back singles to Oswaldo Cabrera and Oswald Peraza, with Miguel Andujar coming to bat. Andujar doubled on a fly ball to left field, scoring two runs that put the RailRiders up 2-0. Dykstra struck out Estevan Florial and got Phillip Evans to fly out and Ben Rortvedt to pop out, ending the inning.
At the top of the second inning, Ofreidy Gomez replaced James Dykstra. Dykstra went one inning, allowing three hits, two runs, no walks, and one strikeout in 18 pitches. Gomez gave up a double to Tyler Wade with two outs, then walked Oswaldo Cabrera. Finally, Gomez got Oswald Peraza to ground out that retired the side.
IronPigs’ left fielder Jorge Bonifacio started the bottom of the second inning with a single, followed by a strikeout from Justin Williams with Will Toffey coming to bat. Toffey hit a two-run home run over the fence at right field, tying the game 2-2. A fly-out from Rafael Marchan and a ground out by Scott Kingery ended the inning.
Jonathan Hennigan (2.0 IP, 0 H, 0 R, 0 BB, 4 SO), James Marvel (2.0 IP, 1 H, 0 R, 0 BB, 2 SO), and Mark Appel (2.0 IP, 2 H, 0 R, 2 BB, 3 SO) kept the score tied heading into the bottom of the eighth inning.
Jimmy Cordero was the new RailRiders pitcher. IronPigs’ shortstop Scott Kingery walked to start the bottom of the eighth inning. During Mickey Moniak’s appearance, Kingery stole second base. Moniak struck out, and Dalton Guthrie struck out with Nick Maton up next. Maton singled on a line drive to right field, scoring Kingery that put the IronPigs up 3-2. IronPigs’ first baseman Josh Ockimey grounded out to pitcher Jimmy Cordero for the final out.
At the top of the ninth inning, Tyler Cyr closed out the game for the IronPigs. Cyr gave up a single to Oswald Peraza with two outs before striking out Miguel Andujar to end the game. The IronPigs beat the RailRiders 3-2 to improve to 51-42, while the RailRiders are now 45-48.
The win went to IronPigs pitcher Mark Appel, his sixth win of the season, and the loss went to RailRiders pitcher Jimmy Cordero.
The IronPigs are back on the road starting Tuesday against the Durham Bulls at 6:35 pm. Tickets for the game can be purchased at StubHub, and pick up IronPigs merchandise today at Fanatics.com.
