On Tuesday night at Coca-Cola Park, the Lehigh Valley IronPigs began their final homestand of the season in a crucial series against the Scranton/Wilkes-Barres RailRiders. The IronPigs are 11-4 against the RailRiders this year.
Lehigh Valley came into this game 5.5 games behind the Durham Bulls for first place, while the RailRiders are 1.5 games behind Durham for first place. One transaction occurred as the Philadelphia Phillies assigned pitcher Matt Seelinger to Lehigh Valley IronPigs from the Reading Fightin Phils. Seelinger was 3-2, with a 3.47 ERA in Reading.
Noah Skirrow (0-1, 4.09 ERA) was on the mound for Lehigh Valley, while the RailRiders started Mitch Spence (3-2, 3.61 ERA).
IronPigs’ first baseman Darick Hall doubled to left field to start the bottom of the first inning with one out. Then, Dustin Peterson grounded out towards second baseman Chris Owings, moving Hall to third base. Unfortunately, Josh Ockimey flew out towards center fielder Blake Perkins, ending the inning.
In the bottom of the second inning, IronPigs’ left fielder Jorge Bonifacio crushed a solo home run over the Tiki Terrace & Oasis roof at left field for a 1-0 lead with one out. It was Bonifacio’s 14th home run of the season. Daniel Robertson and Will Toffey struck out, ending the inning.
In the bottom of the fifth inning, IronPigs’ second baseman Ali Castillo doubled to right field with two outs. Then, Scott Kingery hit an RBI triple off the wall at right field, scoring Castillo for a 2-0 lead. Darick Hall was next, and he singled over second baseman Phillip Evans’s head and into right field, scoring Kingery for a 3-0 lead.
Dustin Peterson grounded towards shortstop Anthony Volpe, who threw the ball over to second baseman Chris Owings for the forceout, ending the inning.
At the top of the sixth inning, IronPigs starter Noah Skirrow got back-to-back groundouts from Blake Perkins and Anthony Volpe and a flyout from Chris Owings, ending the inning. That was it for Skirrow, who was impressive going six innings, allowing one hit, no runs, one walk, and five strikeouts in 89 pitches, of which 55 were strikes.
Jakob Hernandez was the IronPigs pitcher at the top of the seventh inning. Hernandez gave up a double to Ben Rortvedt, followed by back-to-back walks to Ryan LaMarre and Josh Breaux, loading the bases for Ronald Guzman. Guzman hit a grand slam near the foul pole at right field, giving the RailRiders a 4-3 lead.
After walking Phillip Evans with one out, Hernandez was replaced by Chris Devenski. It was uncharacteristic of Hernandez to give up four runs. He’s been of the best IronPigs pitchers all season, but tonight was not his night.
Devenski got Blake Perkins to ground out and struck out Anthony Volpe, ending the inning. Devenski went another inning and pitched 1.2 innings, allowing one hit, no runs, no walks, and three strikeouts on 22 pitches, of which 16 were strikes.
Nick Duron was the new IronPigs pitcher at the top of the ninth inning. Duron walked Armando Alvarez with one out before striking out Phillip Evans and getting Blake Perkins to hit a grounder towards third baseman Daniel Robertson for the forceout at second base, ending the inning.
The IronPigs had one more chance to get back into the game in the bottom of the ninth inning. Unfortunately, Josh Ockimey lined out to Chris Owings, Rafael Marchan flew out towards center fielder Blake Perkins, and Jorge Bonifacio grounded out, ending the game. The IronPigs lost 4-3. They had seven hits, and their record is now 73-68, while the RailRiders are 78-63.
The win went to RailRiders pitcher Chasen Shreve, while Jakob Hernandez lost his first game of the season, and Jimmy Cordero earned his third save of the season.
In other scores, Durham beat Norfolk 9-2, Worcester beat Syracuse 3-2, Buffalo beat Rochester 3-2, and Jacksonville beat Charlotte 2-1. The IronPigs are now 6.5 games behind Durham, and Worcester is a game behind Lehigh Valley for fifth place.
The series continues tonight at 7:05 pm. Tickets for the game can be purchased on StubHub, and pick up IronPigs merchandise today at Fanatics.com.
