On Wednesday night at Durham Bulls Athletic Park, the Lehigh Valley IronPigs were looking to extend their lead in the International League East Division against the Durham Bulls in game two.
Bubby Rossman (0-0, 0.00 ERA) was on the mound for Lehigh Valley, making his debut. Rossman is 2-2 with a 3.02 ERA in Reading. Meanwhile, Tommy Romero (4-4, 3.90 ERA) started for the Bulls.
At the top of the first inning, Bulls pitcher Tommy Romero walked Mickey Moniak with second baseman Jean Segura coming to the plate. During Segura’s at-bat, Moniak stole second base. Then, Segura grounded toward Bulls’ second baseman Jonathan Aranda, who made the throw to first base to get Segura out while Moniak went to third base. Up next to bat was IronPigs’ shortstop Nick Maton.
On a 0-1 count, Maton singled off the wall to right field, scoring Moniak for a 1-0 lead. However, Maton tried to reach second base and was tagged out. IronPigs’ designated hitter Donny Sands was up to bat, but he grounded out towards third baseman Xavier Edwards, ending the inning.
IronPigs pitcher Bubby Rossman started the bottom of the first inning by walking Vidal Brujan with Miles Mastrobuoni coming to the plate. During Mastrobuoni’s at-bat, Brujan tried to steal second. However, Rafael Marchan gunned him down for the first out. Then, Rossman walked Mastrobuoni, and up next was Bulls’ second baseman, Jonathan Aranda.
Aranda singled to center field, followed by another single from Tristian Gray that loaded the bases for Xavier Edwards. IronPigs pitcher Bubby Rossman walked Edwards, forcing in a run that tied the game 1-1 for Bulls’ catcher Ford Proctor. Proctor singled on a ground ball to left field, scoring Aranda for a 2-1 lead. Up next was Bulls’ designated hitter Ryan Boldt. Boldt grounded towards Jean Segura, who tossed the ball to Nick Maton that got Proctor out at second, but Boldt beat Maton’s throw to first, and he was safe while another run scored, 3-1.
After walking Ruben Cardenas, Bubby Rossman was taken out of the game for Zach Warren. Rossman had a rough debut, going 0.2 innings, allowing three hits, three runs, four walks, and no strikeouts on 37 pitches. Warren got Grant Witherspoon to fly out to end the inning.
IronPigs’ right fielder Dalton Guthrie started the top of the third inning with a solo home run over the monster wall at left field, cutting the Bull’s lead to 3-2. It was Guthrie’s sixth home run of the season. However, Lehigh Valley could not build momentum when Drew Maggi flied out, Mickey Moniak struck out, and Jean Segura grounded out, ending the inning.
In the bottom of the third inning, James Marvel was the new IronPigs pitcher. Zach Warren went 1.1 innings with no hits, no runs, one walk, and no strikeouts on 24 pitches. Marvel got Tristian Gray to fly out, Xavier Edwards to line out, and Ford Proctor to ground out that retired the side.
IronPigs pitcher James Marvel started the bottom of the fourth inning by walking Ryan Boldt. After getting Ruben Cardenas to pop out, Marvel gave up a single to Grant Witherspoon with Vidal Brujan up to bat. Brujan singled on a line drive to right field, adding another run, 4-2.
Bulls’ center fielder Miles Mastrobuoni was up next. He singled on a line drive to right field, scoring Witherspoon and bringing the lead to 5-2 with Jonathan Aranda coming to the plate. Aranda hit a ground ball towards second baseman Jean Segura, who threw the ball over to Josh Ockimey for the second out, but another run scored, 6-2. Then, Marvel gave up another single to Tristian Gray before Xavier Edwards singled to center field, adding another run, 7-2. The inning would end when Marvel struck out Ford Proctor to retire the side.
Sam Coonrod replaced James Marvel to begin the bottom of the fifth inning. Marvel went two innings, allowing five hits, four runs, one walk, and one strikeout in 45 pitches. Coonrod gave up a double to Ryan Boldt, followed by a walk to Ruben Cardenas. Then, Grant Witherspoon singled off the wall at left field, scoring Boldt for an 8-2 lead.
Coonrod got Vidal Brujan to line out, Miles Mastrobuoni grounded towards Jean Segura to get Witherspoon out at second base, and Coonrod struck out Jonathan Aranda to end the inning.
In the bottom of the sixth inning, Coonrod gave up a single to Tristian Gray, followed by walking Xavier Edwards with no outs with Bulls’ catcher Ford Proctor was up to bat. He hit a three-run homer over the monster wall at left field, which made it 11-2 Durham. Coonrod was done, and Jonathan Hennigan was the new IronPigs pitcher. Coonrod went one inning, allowing four hits, four runs, two walks, and one strikeout on 39 pitches. Hennigan struck out the side to end the inning.
At the top of the seventh inning, Cristofer Ogando was the new Bulls pitcher. Ogando got Jorge Bonifacio to pop out, followed by hitting IronPigs’ catcher Rafael Marchan with Dalton Guthrie coming to bat. Guthrie hit his second home run of the night out to left field, cutting the Bull’s lead 11-4. It was Guthrie’s seventh home run of the season.
IronPigs’ third baseman Drew Maggi singled before Mickey Moniak struck out, and Jean Segura flied out to end the inning.
Moving ahead to the top of the ninth inning, Joel Peguero closed out the game for the Bulls. IronPigs’ catcher Rafael Marchan popped out, Dalton Guthrie grounded out, and Drew Maggi grounded out to end the game, and the IronPigs lost 11-4.
The IronPigs drop to 52-43 and are in a three-way tie for first place with the Durham Bulls and Jacksonville Jumbo Shrimp. The win went to Bulls pitcher Chase Anderson, while the loss went to IronPigs starter Bubby Rossman.
The series continues tonight at 6:35 pm. Tickets for the game can be purchased on StubHub, and pick up IronPigs merchandise at Fanatics.com.
