On Wednesday night at Norfolk Tides Baseball Club at Harbor Park Stadium, the Lehigh Valley IronPigs were looking to get back on track against the Norfolk Tides after being shut out 5-0 on Tuesday.
Coming into the game, the IronPigs trailed Durham by a half-game out of first place. Durham is in Charlotte, and the game was rained out on Tuesday. They will make up the game on Friday. There were a couple of transactions that took place before the game.
First, the Philadelphia Phillies traded catcher Karl Ellison to the Toronto Blue Jays for pitcher Vinny Nittoli and assigned him to Lehigh Valley. Nittoli is 4-1 with 3.30 ERA this year in Scranton/Wilkes-Barre RailRiders and the Buffalo Bisons. Then, the IronPigs placed right fielder Justin Williams on the 7-day injured list.
Kent Emanuel (2-1, 2.02 ERA) was on the mound for Lehigh Valley, while the Tides started Mike Baumann (1-6, 4.67 ERA).
IronPigs pitcher Kent Emanuel walked Jordan Westburg with one out before giving up a single to Joseph Ortiz. Then, Jacob Nottingham hit a double over Dalton Guthrie’s head at center field, scoring Westburg and Ortiz that put Norfolk up 2-0. However, Emanuel injured himself and exited the game with Jon Hennigan taking over.
Emanuel’s final stats were 0.1 innings, two hits, two runs, two earned runs, one walk, and one strikeout in 16 pitches. Hennigan walked a couple of guys but did get the last two outs to end the inning. At the top of the second inning, IronPigs’ third baseman Will Toffey doubled with two outs, but Jorge Bonifacio struck out, ending the inning. Hennigan went one more inning and finished the game going 1.2 innings, no runs, no walks, and one strikeout in 31 pitches.
Braeden Ogle was the new IronPigs pitcher in the bottom of the third inning. Ogle pitched two innings, with no hits, no runs, two walks, and one strikeout in 29 pitches. At the top of the fifth inning, IronPigs’ third baseman Will Toffey struck out swinging, but a passed ball allowed Toffey to reach first base.
Then, during Jorge Bonifacio’s plate appearance, Toffey reached second base after Baumann threw a wild pitch, and Bonifacio struck out, bringing up Daniel Robertson. Robertson doubled on a line drive to right field, scoring Toffey that cut Norfolk’s lead 2-1. Ali Castillo was up next, and he singled, moving Robertson to third base, but Lehigh Valley stranded both runners.
Chris Devenski was the new IronPigs pitcher at the bottom of the fifth inning. First, he gave up a solo home run to Jordan Westburg that went over the wall at center field for a 3-1 lead. Then, Devenski threw 14 pitches to get three outs, ending the inning.
Brian Marconi pitched in the bottom of the sixth inning. He went an inning, allowing one hit, no runs, one walk, and three strikeouts in 25 pitches. At the top of the seventh inning, Will Toffey reached first base on a fielding error by Tides’ second baseman Jordan Westburg.
Three batters later, Ali Castillo was up to bat. Yennier Cano threw a wild pitch, and Toffey stole second base. Then, he tried to steal third base and got caught, ending the inning.
Francisco Morales was the new IronPigs pitcher in the bottom of the seventh inning. He walked Jordan Westburg, followed by a single from Joseph Ortiz. Two batters later, with one out, Morales walked Kelvin Gutierrez before walking Yusniel Diaz, forcing in a run, 4-1. Then, Morales got Jonathan Arauz to ground into a double play, ending the inning.
Mark Appel was the new IronPigs pitcher in the bottom of the eighth inning. He hit Colton Cower with two outs and got Jordan Westburg to ground out towards Will Toffey, ending the inning.
Cole Uvila was the new Norfolk pitcher at the top of the ninth inning. IronPigs’ catcher Donny Sands was up first and singled to center field. Then, Uvila walked Josh Ockimey, and Scott Kingery came in to pinch run.
Three batters later, Uvila walked Jorge Bonifacio with two outs, loading the bases for Daniel Robertson. Unfortunately, Robertson was called on strikes, and the IronPigs lost 4-1. It’s Lehigh Valley’s third straight loss.
The IronPigs had five hits and dropped to 68-57. Meanwhile, the IronPigs are now 1.5 games back behind Durham after the Bulls beat the Knights 9-6, and Jacksonville is a game behind Lehigh Valley for second place with a 5-2 win over Gwinnett.
The IronPigs batters have had 13 hits in the last three games. They need to get back to producing hits and driving in runs as they enter the final month of the season. The win went to Norfolk starter Mike Baumann for his second win of the season, while Kent Emanuel lost his second game of the year.
Game three of the series is today at 12:05 pm. Tickets for the game can be purchased on StubHub, and pick up IronPigs merchandise today at Fanatics.com.
