On Saturday night at Harbor Park, the Lehigh Valley IronPigs took on the Norfolk Tides in game five of the series. So far, the series has not gone well for the IronPigs, who’ve lost three of four to the Tides.
Coming into this game, the IronPigs trailed the Bulls by two games for first place in the International League East Division. Meanwhile, Worcester, Buffalo, Jacksonville, and Scranton/Wilkes-Barre are closing in on Lehigh Valley for second place.
There was one transaction that took place before the game, and that was pitcher Colton Eastman being transferred to the Development List.
Bubby Rossman (3-2, 4.96 ERA) was on the mound for Lehigh Valley, while Norfolk started Drew Rom (0-0, 1.86 ERA).
IronPigs’ right fielder Dalton Guthrie started the top of the first inning with a single. Then, IronPigs’ third baseman Yairo Munoz grounded towards second baseman Greg Cullen, who tossed the ball over to second base, while Munoz made it to first base. Darick Hall was next.
During Hall’s plate appearance, Munoz stole second base head first and was down for several minutes before getting back up but stayed in the game. Munoz was stranded at second base when Darick Hall and Jorge Bonifacio struck out, ending the inning.
Moving ahead to the top of the third inning, Dalton Guthrie singled to left field with one out. Then, Yairo Munoz doubled in an open area at right field, scoring Guthrie to take a 1-0 lead. For the second time in the game, he was left stranded as Darick Hall struck out, and Jorge Bonifacio flew out to right fielder Colton Cowser, ending the inning.
In the bottom of the third inning, Tides’ shortstop Joseph Ortiz hit a home run into Norfolk’s bullpen at right field, tying the game 1-1 with one out. IronPigs pitcher Bubby Rossman struck out Tyler Nevin and got Brett Phillips to ground out to second baseman Ali Castillo, who made the throw to first baseman Darick Hall, ending the inning.
That was it for Rossman, who went three innings, four hits, one run, one earned run, one walk, and two strikeouts in 45 pitches. Erik Miller was the new IronPigs pitcher to start the bottom of the third inning. Miller threw 16 pitches to get three outs. That was it for Miller, who went an inning, no hits, no runs, no walks, and two strikeouts.
IronPigs’ shortstop Scott Kingery started the top of the fifth inning with a triple. Then, Ali Castillo singled to center field, scoring Kingery to retake the lead, 2-1. Dalton Guthrie was next and singled to center field, moving Castillo to second base. It’s the ninth time this year that Guthrie has had a three-hit game.
Yairo Munoz was next and bunted towards first baseman Kelvin Gutierrez, moving both runners up a base. Unfortunately, Darick Hall lined out to third baseman Tyler Nevin, who then tagged third base for the double play.
Trevor Bettencourt was the new IronPigs pitcher in the bottom of the fifth inning. Bettencourt gave up a home run to Ramon Rodriguez that stayed inside the foul pole at right field, tying the game 2-2. Then, Bettencourt walked Jordan Westburg with one out, followed by back-to-back groundouts from Joseph Ortiz and Tyler Nevin to end the inning. That was it for Bettencourt, who went an inning, one hit, one run, one walk, and one strikeout in 15 pitches.
Blaine Knight was the new Tides’ pitcher to start the top of the sixth inning. He walked Jorge Bonifacio. Three batters later, he hit Rafael Marchan with Chris Sharpe up next. However, Marchan went too far away from the first base bag and was picked off, ending the inning.
The IronPigs made several changes before the bottom of the sixth inning began. First, Lehigh Valley took Dalton Guthrie out of the game and moved Jorge Bonifacio to his position, while Will Toffey came into the game playing left field. Next, Jon Hennigan was the new IronPigs pitcher. Hennigan gave up a single to Brett Phillips.
Two batters later, Tides’ left fielder Robert Neustrom singled to center field, scoring Phillips as Norfolk took a 3-2 lead with one out. Then, Hennigan struck out Greg Cullen and got Ramon Rodriguez to fly out to Jorge Bonifacio, ending the inning. That was it for Hennigan, who went an inning, two hits, one run, no walks, and one strikeout in 22 pitches.
Chris Devenski was the new IronPigs pitcher in the bottom of the seventh inning. He walked Jordan Westburg with one out, followed by a pop-out from Joseph Ortiz, and a flyout from Tyler Nevin, ending the inning.
IronPigs’ third baseman Yairo Munoz started the top of the eighth inning with a walk, but the IronPigs were unable to bring him home. Mark Appel was the new IronPigs pitcher in the bottom of the eighth inning. He walked Brett Phillips and Greg Cullen three batters later with two outs. Then, Ramon Rodriguez singled to right field, scoring Phillips for a 4-2 lead.
That was it for Appel, who was replaced by Braeden Ogle. Ogle walked Colton Cowser before giving up a bases-clearing double to Jordan Westburg as Norfolk blew the game open, 7-2. Appel’s final numbers were 0.2 innings, one hit, three runs, one walks, and two strikeouts in 24 pitches. The inning came to an end when Ogle struck out Joseph Ortiz.
Yennier Cano closed out the game for Norfolk at the top of the ninth inning. IronPigs’ catcher Rafael Marchan doubled with one out, but Scott Kingery and Ali Castillo struck out, ending the game. The IronPigs lose 7-2 and lose the series with one game to go.
The IronPigs had eight hits and dropped to 69-59. Meanwhile, Durham won their game 6-5 over Charlotte and has a three-game lead over the IronPigs for first place.
In other scores, Jacksonville beat Gwinnett 4-3 and have tied Lehigh Valley for second place, while Scranton/Wilkes-Barre won their third game in a row, 14-5, over Syracuse and are now a game behind Lehigh Valley for second place.
The win went to Norfolk pitcher Blaine Knight for his fourth win of the year, while the loss went to Jon Hennigan for his third loss of the year.
The series wraps up today at 4:05 pm. Tickets for the game can be purchased on StubHub, and pick up IronPigs merchandise today at Fanatics.com.
