On Tuesday night, the Lehigh Valley IronPigs returned to Coca-Cola Park to start a six-game series against the Gwinnett Stripers in front of a sold-out crowd of 10,100. The Stripers are the Triple-A affiliate of the Atlanta Braves.
Over the last couple of days, there have been several transactions. On Monday, the Phillies called up starting pitchers Cristopher Sanchez and Michael Plassmeyer while designated Tyler Cyr for assignment. If Cyr clears waivers, he will return to Lehigh Valley.
Meanwhile, Phillies all-star outfielder Bryce Harper is in Lehigh Valley for a week on a rehab assignment after breaking his thumb in San Diego last month. After the Phillies announced that he would rehab in Lehigh Valley, tickets were gobbled up for this series.
Then, on Tuesday, the Phillies recalled infielder Yairo Munoz while sending first baseman Darick Hall back to Lehigh Valley. Hall is nine home runs away from tying Rhys Hoskins’s home run record set in 2017.
Michael Kelly (0-2, 4.97 ERA) was on the mound for Lehigh Valley, while the Stripers started Jared Shuster (0-2, 4.15 ERA).
IronPigs starter Michael Kelly started the top of the first inning by walking Delino DeShields. During Rylan Bannon’s at-bat, DeShields stole second base, and Bannon grounded out, moving DeShields to third base. Hernan Perez was up next and grounded to first baseman Johan Camargo, but the ball went off Camargo’s glove, and everyone was safe as Gwinnett took a 1-0 lead.
Two batters later, Taylor Moore doubled to center field, scoring DeShields for a 2-0 lead. Then, after Alex Dickerson singled, Tyler White brought home Taylor Moore for a 3-0 lead. Finally, Kelly struck out Hendrik Clementina, ending the inning. That was it for Kelly, who went one inning, allowing three hits, three runs, one earned run, one walk, and one strikeout in 27 pitches.
In the bottom of the first inning, Bryce Harper was up with one out and crushed a solo home run off the pole at right field, cutting the Stripers’ lead 3-1. The home run went 375 feet.
IronPigs’ right fielder Dustin Peterson grounded out, followed by a single from Johan Camargo. Then, Chris Sharpe struck out, ending the inning.
Jonathan Hennigan was the new IronPigs pitcher at the top of the second inning and went an inning with no hits, no runs, no walks, and no strikeouts in 11 pitches. Ofreidy Gomez took over at the top of the third inning.
Gomez gave up a home run to Alex Dickerson that just went over the left field wall, giving the Stripers a 4-1 lead with two outs. Then, on an 0-1 count, Gomez got Tyler White to line out to Dalton Guthrie, retiring the side. In the bottom of the third inning, Chris Sharpe was up with the bases loaded with two outs but lined out to first base, ending the inning.
Moving ahead to the bottom of the sixth inning, Chris Sharpe and Rafael Marchan singled with two outs, followed by a Daniel Robertson walk, loading the bases for Scott Kingery. Kingery came through with a two-run double over a leaping Rylan Bannon and into left field, cutting Gwinnett’s lead, 4-3. Unfortunately, Ali Castillo lined out, ending the inning.
In the bottom of the seventh inning, Dalton Guthrie was hit by a pitch, followed by a Bryce Harper walk. Then, Dustin Peterson singled that loaded the bases for Johan Camargo. Camargo got Guthrie home with a sacrifice fly to right field, tying the game 4-4.
Two batters later, with the bases loaded, IronPigs’ catcher Rafael Marchan hit a two-run single to left field, scoring Harper and Peterson to give the IronPigs a 6-4 lead. The IronPigs were unable to add any more runs when Daniel Robertson struck out, and Scott Kingery grounded out that and ended the inning.
Since Ofreidy Gomez gave up a run at the top of the third inning, Gomez (2.0 IP, 1 H, 1 R, 1 ER, 0 BB, 2 SO, 28 pitches), Braedon Ogle (1.0 IP, 0 H, 0 R, 0 BB, 1 SO, 11 pitches), Mark Appel (1.0 IP, 0 H, 0 R, 0 BB, 2 SO, 9 pitches), and Jace Fry (1.0 IP, 0 H, 0 R, 0 BB, 1 SO, 12 pitches) did a good job shutting out the Stripers in the next four innings.
Nick Duron was the new IronPigs pitcher to start the top of the eighth inning. He walked Rylan Bannon, and Hernan Perez reached first base on a fielding error by Scott Kingery. Then, a balk was called on Duron, moving Bannon and Perez up a base, followed by a sacrifice fly from Pat Valaika that made it a one-run game 6-5.
After walking Taylor Motter, Duron was done, and Jakob Hernandez came in to strike out Alex Dickerson and Tyler White, ending the inning.
In the bottom of the eighth inning, Bryce Harper was up with runners on first and second base. He hit an opposite three-run home run into the IronPigs bullpen at left field, extending Lehigh Valley’s lead, 9-6.
Then, Dustin Peterson hit a home run that also went into the IronPigs bullpen for a 10-6 lead. After Johan Camargo walked, Chris Sharpe flew out, and Rafael Marchan grounded into a double play, ending the inning.
Jakob Hernandez was back to close the game at the top of the ninth inning. He struck out the side in 11 pitches as the IronPigs beat the Stripers, 10-6. The IronPigs had 11 hits and improved to 65-53. Bryce Harper went 2/3 with two home runs, four RBIs, and was walked twice.
The IronPigs are now one-game back of the Durham Bulls for first place after the Bulls lost 10-4 to Nashville, while Buffalo was shut out 1-0 to Columbus, and the Jacksonville game was suspended after three innings, trailing 2-1 to Norfolk. They will complete that game tomorrow.
The win went to Jace Fry. It was his fourth win of the season, while the loss went to Stripers pitcher Tyler Ferguson for his second loss of the year. Jakob Hernandez (1.2 IP, 0 H, 0 R, 0 BB, 5 SO, 21 pitches) earned his sixth save of the season.
The series continues today at 7:05 pm. Tickets for the game can be purchased on StubHub, and pick up IronPigs merchandise today at Fanatics.com.
