On Tuesday night at Durham Bulls Athletic Park, the Lehigh Valley IronPigs took on the Durham Bulls in game one with sole possession of first place on the line.
Ricardo Sanchez (4-3, 4.76 ERA) was on the mound for the IronPigs, while the Bulls started Joe Wieland (0-0, 1.29 ERA). Before the game began, the IronPigs got Jean Segura and pitcher Sam Coonrod from the Phillies to begin their rehab assignments. Segura was the designated hitter.
At the top of the first inning, IronPigs center fielder Mickey Moniak hit a solo home run on a 3-2 count that went into the concourse at right field for a 1-0 lead. It was Moniak’s fourth home run of the season.
IronPigs designated hitter Jean Segura was next, but he grounded towards Bulls’ third baseman Jonathan Aranda for the first out. IronPigs’ shortstop Nick Maton was up to bat and struck out swinging. Then, catcher Donny Sands singled to right field, followed by a Josh Ockimey walk, bringing up Chris Sharpe.
Sharpe reached first base on a throwing error by Bulls’ second baseman Xavier Edwards when he threw the ball wide left past first baseman Jim Haley. In addition, another run scored for the IronPigs, 2-0, with Justin Williams up to bat.
During Williams’ plate appearance, Chris Sharpe stole second base. Then, Williams singled on a ground ball to right field, scoring Ockimey and Sharpe for a 4-0 lead. After Joe Wieland walked Will Toffey, Wieland was replaced by Dalton Moats, who got Scott Kingery to ground out that ended the inning.
In the bottom of the first inning, Bulls’ right fielder Miles Mastrobuoni singled on a ground ball to first base. Josh Ockimey briefly hesitated before throwing the ball to Ricardo Sanchez, and Mastrobuoni beat the throw and was safe at first base.
Bulls’ third baseman Jonathan Aranda was up at bat. During his plate appearance, IronPigs pitcher Ricardo Sanchez was called for a balk, and Mastrobuoni moved to second base. After the balk, Sanchez struck out Aranda for the second out with Bulls’ designated hitter Ruben Cardenas coming to the plate. Cardenas singled off the wall at left field, scoring Mastrobuoni, cutting the IronPigs lead 4-1. Finally, Ricardo Sanchez got Xavier Edwards to ground into a force out at second base that retired the side.
Moving ahead to the bottom of the third inning, the IronPigs defense made two mistakes that got Durham another run. After Ryan Boldt walked, Bulls’ center fielder Vidal Brujan reached first base on a throwing error by Will Toffey with Miles Mastrobuoni coming to the plate. Mastrobuoni reached first base after Scott Kingery tried to tag Brujan out but missed the tag and was late with the throw to first base that was now loaded for Jonathan Aranda.
Aranda made it a two-score game when he hit a sacrifice fly to left field, scoring Boldt that made it a 4-2 game with Ruben Cardenas up to bat. During his plate appearance, Brujan stole third base, and Mastrobuoni stole second base to prevent a double play.
After walking Cardenas and striking out Xavier Edwards, Sanchez was done, and Jakob Hernandez was the new IronPigs pitcher. Sanchez went 2.2 innings, allowing two hits, two runs, three walks, and two strikeouts on 75 pitches. Hernandez got Ford Proctor to line out on a diving catch by Will Toffey that ended the inning.
The IronPigs bullpen was led by Jakob Hernandez (1.1 IP, 0 H, 0 R, 1 BB, 0 SO, 14 pitches), Ryan Sherriff (1.1 IP, 0 H, 0 R, 1 BB, 2 SO, 20 pitches), Michael Kelly (1.0 IP, 2 H, 0 R, 0 BB, 0 SO, 25 pitches), and Jace Fry (1.2 IP, 0 H, 0 R, 0 BB, 2 SO, 14 pitches). All did a nice job keeping it a two-score game, heading into the bottom of the ninth inning.
Tyler Cyr closed out the game for the IronPigs in the bottom of the ninth inning. It was a rough start for Cyr. First, he gave up a single to Xavier Edwards, followed by a fielder’s choice from Ford Proctor when the ball bounced off Nick Maton’s chest and hit the foot of Scott Kingery as everyone was safe for Tristian Gray.
Tristian Gray singled on a ground ball to right field, scoring Edwards that made it a one-run game, 4-3, with no outs. Then, Tyler Cyr loaded the bases by walking Jim Haley. The IronPigs finally got the first out when Ryan Boldt hit the ball towards first baseman Josh Ockimey, who threw to catcher Donny Sands for the forceout.
Next to bat was Vidal Brujan. He lined out to left fielder Chris Sharpe for the second out, with Miles Mastrobuoni coming to the plate. Cyr got Mastrobuoni to ground out towards Scott Kingery, who made the throw over to Josh Ockimey for the final out of the game.
The IronPigs held on to a 4-3 win to take sole possession of first place in the International League East Division with a 52-42 record, while the Bulls dropped to 51-43.
The win went to IronPigs pitcher Jakob Hernandez for his third of the season, while the loss went to Bull starter Joe Wieland.
The series continues today at 6:35 pm. Tickets for the game can be purchased on StubHub, and pick up IronPigs merchandise today at Fanatics.com.
