On Sunday afternoon at Harbor Park, the Lehigh Valley IronPigs closed out the six-game road trip against the Norfolk Tides for the final time of the season. The depleted IronPigs had already lost the series and looked to regroup to go out with a win.
Coming into the game, the IronPigs were tied for second place with the Jacksonville Jumbo Shrimp and trailed the Durham Bulls by three games for first place in the International League East Division. Additionally, the Scranton/Wilkes-Barre RailRiders are a game behind both Lehigh Valley and Jacksonville for second place.
Before the game started, there was one transaction as Dalton Guthrie was called up to the Philadelphia Phillies after they placed Nick Castellanos on the 10-day IL with a right oblique strain and designated infielder Luis Garcia for assignment. Guthrie was pulled in last night’s 7-2 loss after getting three hits in the game.
Ofreidy Gomez (0-0, 8.31 ERA) was on the mound for Lehigh Valley, while Norfolk started Chris Vallimont (3-6, 5.98 ERA).
IronPigs pitcher Ofreidy Gomez walked Colton Cowser in the bottom of the first inning. Two batters later, he faced Tides’ second baseman, Joseph Ortiz. During Ortiz’s plate appearance, Gomez threw two straight wild pitches, moving Cowser to third base before walking Ortiz with one out. Gomez threw a third wild pitch but got back-to-back strikeouts from Tyler Nevin and Robert Neustrom, ending the inning.
Johan Camargo singled to left field to start the top of the second inning, but Dustin Peterson grounded into a double play. Then, after Chris Vallimont walked IronPigs’ catcher Vito Friscia, he struck out Chris Sharpe, ending the inning.
In the bottom of the second inning, Gomez walked Cadyn Grenier with two outs. Then, he gave up a single to Ramon Rodriguez and hit Colton Cowser, loading the bases for Jordan Westburg. Westburg hit a single that kicked off the mound, then went off the heel of Yairo Munoz’s glove and into center field, scoring two players for a 2-0 lead.
That was it for Gomez, who was replaced by Brian Marconi. Marconi gave up a triple to Joseph Ortiz at right field, scoring two more runs for a 4-0 lead. The runs were charged to Gomez. His final stats were 1.2 innings, two hits, four runs, four earned runs, three walks, and three strikeouts in 47 pitches.
The inning ended when Marconi got Tyler Nevin to ground out to third baseman Will Toffey, who threw the ball over to Darick Hall for the final out. Marconi went two more innings, finishing 2.1 innings, two hits, no runs, one walk, and one strikeout in 34 pitches.
At the top of the fourth inning, IronPigs’ first baseman Darick Hall and right fielder Jorge Bonifacio hit back-to-back singles. Then, Johan Camargo grounded towards third baseman Jordan Westburg for the double play, and Dustin Peterson flew out to center fielder Colton Cowser, ending the inning.
Moving ahead to the bottom of the fifth inning, James Marvel was the new IronPigs pitcher. First, he walked Jordan Westburg and gave up a single to Robert Neustrom with two outs. Then, Marvel got Brett Phillips to ground out towards second baseman Yairo Munoz, ending the inning.
James Marvel gave up a single to Richie Martin to start the bottom of the sixth inning, with Cadyn Grenier coming to the plate. During Grenier’s plate appearance, Marvel made a throwing error in a pickoff attempt, and Martin went to second base. Then, Grenier grounded to shortstop Scott Kingery, moving Martin to third base for Ramon Rodriguez.
Rodriguez singled to center field, scoring Martin for a 5-0 lead. Marvel struck out Colton Cowser and got Jordon Westburg to ground out, ending the inning. That was it for Marvel, who went two innings, three hits, one run, one earned run, one walk, and two strikeouts in 40 pitches.
Francisco Morales was the new IronPigs pitcher in the bottom of the seventh inning. He walked Joseph Ortiz and Tyler Nevin before giving up a double to Robert Neustrom that went out to center field for a 7-0 lead. After walking Brett Phillips, Morales was replaced by Michael Kelly.
Two batters later, Kelly gave up a two-run double to Cadyn Grenier out to center field for a 9-0 lead. Then, Ramon Rodriguez singled on a line drive to right field, scoring Grenier, and it was 10-0 Norfolk.
Kelly got Colton Cowser to fly out and struck out Jordan Westburg, ending the inning. That was it for Kelly, who went an inning, two hits, two runs, two earned runs, one walk, and one strikeout in 20 pitches.
Nick Duron was the new IronPigs pitcher in the bottom of the eighth inning. Duron gave up a double to Robert Neustrom with two outs before getting Brett Phillips to ground out towards Yairo Munoz, who threw the ball over to Darick Hall, ending the inning.
Cole Uvila closed out the game for the Tides. He threw 16 pitches to get the final three outs of the game, and the IronPigs were shut out 10-0. The IronPigs finish the season with a 5-7 record against Norfolk. Lehigh Valley had four hits and dropped to 69-60 for the season.
In other scores, Jacksonville was rained out, while the Durham Bulls beat Charlotte 7-5, and the Scranton/Wilkes-Barre RailRiders defeated Syracuse 5-1. The Bulls have a three-game lead in the IL East over Jacksonville and Scranton/Wilkes-Barre, while the IronPigs fall to fourth place, 3.5 games out of first place.
It’s a shame what has happened to the IronPigs over the last month, with the Phillies unable to manage with the players they selected. The IronPigs have seen their roaster depleted and not replaced or returned. Lehigh Valley was in the hunt for a playoff spot at one point. Now they are just trying to survive.
The IronPigs have had to go with many bullpen games because they don’t have any starting pitchers, as Cristopher Sanchez and Bailey Falter are up with Philadelphia, and the Phillies traded Ricardo Sanchez and did not replace him. The Phillies’ pitching roster has been a concern for the last several years.
In addition, the Phillies have taken away good hitters with Nick Maton, Matt Vierling, Donny Sands, and Dalton Guthrie. The IronPigs are now having to finish the season shorthanded, and that’s not fair to them.
Instead of spending $100 million for one player, the Phillies could’ve replenished their roster with more players for both them, the IronPigs and the Reading Fightin Phils.
The win went to Norfolk starter Chris Vallimont for his fourth win of the year, while the loss went to IronPigs pitcher Ofreidy Gomez. It was his first loss of the season.
The IronPigs return to Coca-Cola Park tonight at 5:05 pm against the Worcester Red Sox. Tickets for the game can be purchased on StubHub, and pick up IronPigs merchandise today at Fanatics.com.
