On Sunday afternoon at Coca-Cola Park, the Lehigh Valley IronPigs concluded a six-game series against the Gwinnett Stripers. The IronPigs had already won the series and were looking to end it with another win.
The IronPigs came into this game one game up over the Durham Bulls for first place in the International League East Division. Colton Eastman (0-6, 5.59 ERA) was on the mound for Lehigh Valley, while the Stripers started Freddy Tarnok (1-0, 2.08 ERA).
IronPigs pitcher Colton Eastman walked Orlando Arcia to begin the top of the first inning with Rylan Bannon up to bat. He hit a two-run home run into the IronPigs bullpen at left field, putting Gwinnett up 2-0.
Two batters later, with one out, Pat Valaika reached first base after Eastman threw the ball wide left of Darick Hall. Then, Eastman got back-to-back ground outs from Ryan Casteel and Tyler White, ending the inning.
Moving ahead to the top of the third inning, Eastman loaded the bases with two walks and a hit batter for Pat Valaika. Valaika brought home Orlando Arcia with a sacrifice fly to center field for a 3-0 lead. That was it for Eastman, who was replaced by James Marvel, with Ryan Casteel coming to the plate.
Casteel hit a three-run home run into the Pigs Pen at left-center field, extending the Stripers’ lead, 6-0. Colton Eastman’s final stats were 2.1 innings, allowing one hit, five runs, five earned runs, three walks, and no strikeouts in 51 pitches. Then, Marvel got back-to-back flyouts from Tyler White and Yariel Gonzales to end the inning.
IronPigs’ catcher Donny Sands singled with one out in the bottom of the third inning, with Darick Hall coming to the plate. Hall hit a two-run home run in front of the NCR sign at center field, cutting the Stripers’ lead, 6-2. It was Hall’s 21st home run of the season. He is eight home runs away from tying Rhys Hoskins’s home run record (29) set in 2017.
IronPigs’ center fielder Chris Sharpe and shortstop Daniel Robertson walked two outs before Jorge Bonifacio popped out to Stripers’ second baseman Pat Valaika, ending the inning.
Jonathan Hennigan was the new IronPigs pitcher at the top of the seventh inning after James Marvel went 3.2 innings, allowing two hits, one run, and one walk in 56 pitches. Hennigan needed 14 pitches to get out of the inning. He went one inning, allowing a hit, no runs, no walks, and one strikeout.
Braeden Ogle was the new IronPigs pitcher at the top of the eighth inning. Ogle walked Ryan Casteel with one out, followed by a single from Tyler White. Then, Yariel Gonzales hit a ground-rule double, scoring Casteel for a 7-2 lead.
Greyson Jenista was up next, and he drove in two more runs with a two-run single to right field for a 9-2 lead. Delino DeShields was up next and singled to center field, moving Jenista to second base. Two batters later, with two outs, Rylan Bannon doubled on a sharp ground ball to left field, scoring Jenista and DeShields, and it was 11-2.
That was it for Ogle, and Ofreidy Gomez came in to strike out Chadwick Tromp to end the inning. Ogle’s final numbers were 0.2 innings, allowing five hits, five runs, one walk, and no strikeouts in 28 pitches. Meanwhile, that was Gomez’s only appearance with one strikeout in four pitches.
Ali Castillo, a position player, came in to pitch at the top of the ninth inning. He gave up a single to Pat Valaika before giving up a two-run home to Ryan Casteel out to left field for a 13-2 lead. Then, Castillo got Tyler White to ground out, Yariel Gonzales to fly out, and struck out Greyson Jenista to end the inning.
Michael Tonkin closed out the game for the Stripers. He walked Scott Kingery before getting Yairo Munoz to ground into a forceout, and Will Toffey lined out Rylan Bannon for a double play, ending the game, and the IronPigs dropped the finale 13-2.
The IronPigs had five hits in the game. Later in the day, the Durham Bulls beat the Nashville Sound 4-1, and tied the IronPigs for first place.
The win went to Stripers Victor Vodnik for his first of the season, and the loss went to IronPigs pitcher Colton Eastman, who drops to 0-7 for the season.
The IronPigs are back on the road starting Tuesday against the Norfolk Tides at 6:35 pm. Tickets for the game can be purchased on StubHub, and pick up IronPigs merchandise today at Fanatics.com.
