On Wednesday night at Coca-Cola Park, the Lehigh Valley IronPigs took on the Scranton/Wilkes-Barre RailRiders in game two of the series. The IronPigs were looking for their first win of the series after losing 4-3 Tuesday night.
Lehigh Valley came into the game trailing 6.5 games behind Durham for first place. However, with their recent struggles, the IronPigs are getting closer to being eliminated from the playoffs. Lehigh Valley is 3-7 in their last ten games.
One transaction occurred before the game as the Philadelphia Phillies sent pitcher Sam Coonrod to Lehigh Valley after reinstating starter Zach Wheeler from the 15-day injured list. Michael Plassmeyer (6-3, 2.49 ERA) was on the mound for Lehigh Valley, while Scranton/Wilkes-Barre started Jhony Brito (6-2, 3.11 ERA).
IronPigs’ shortstop Scott Kingery started the bottom of the first inning with a single with Darick Hall coming to the plate. He crushed a two-run home run over the KLYR roof at right field for a 2-0 lead. It was Hall’s 27th home run of the season, and he is now three home runs away from breaking Rhys Hoskins’s record (29 in 2017).
Two batters later, IronPigs’ catcher Rafael Marchan singled with one out, followed by Jorge Bonifacio grounding into a double play, ending the inning.
Moving ahead to the top of the fourth inning, RailRiders’ left fielder Chris Owings doubled to left field. Two batters later, RailRiders’ right fielder Ryan LaMarre singled to right field, scoring Owings to make it a one-run game, 2-1, with one out. Then, IronPigs pitcher Michael Plassmeyer got back-to-back flyouts from Josh Breaux and Armando Alvarez, ending the inning.
At the top of the sixth inning, Plassmeyer gave up a single to Ryan LaMarre, followed by another single to Josh Breaux, moving LaMarre to third base with two outs. He got out of the inning when Armando Alverez grounded towards Scott Kingery, who tossed the ball over to Ali Castillo for the forceout, ending the inning.
That was it for Plassmeyer, who pitched a good game going six innings, allowing five hits, one run, no walks, and five strikeouts in 84 pitches, of which 56 were strikes.
Griff McGarry was the new IronPigs pitcher in the top of the seventh inning. McGarry struck out Ronald Guzman, got Phillip Evans to ground out, and struck out Blake Perkins, ending the inning. That was it for McGarry, who went an inning with no hits, no runs, no walks, and two strikeouts in 12 pitches, of which ten were strikes.
Vinny Nittoli was the new IronPigs pitcher at the top of the eighth inning. He gave up a game-tying home run to Chris Ownings into the Capital Lawn at center field, 2-2. Then, Ben Rortvedt gave the RailRiders a 3-2 lead with a solo home run to right field with one out.
Ryan LaMarre was next and singled to left field with Josh Breaux on deck. However, LaMarre was picked off and got caught sliding back to first base for the second out, and Breaux flew out towards right fielder Jorge Bonifacio, ending the inning.
Jacob Barnes was the new RailRiders pitcher to begin the bottom of the eighth inning. He walked Dustin Peterson. Two batters later, a balk was called on Barnes, moving Peterson to second base. Then, Jorge Bonifacio singled to left field, scoring Peterson that tied the game, 3-3, with one out. Johan Camargo popped out, and Daniel Robertson flew out towards right fielder Ryan LaMarre, ending the inning.
Michael Kelly was the new IronPigs pitcher at the top of the ninth inning. Kelly gave up back-to-back singles to Ronald Guzman and Phillip Evans with one out before getting back-to-back strikeouts from Blake Perkins and Anthony Volpe, ending the inning.
Anthony Banda hit Will Toffey to start the bottom of the ninth inning. Then, IronPigs’ second baseman Ali Castillo singled on a bunt ground ball to pitcher Anthony Banda, who tossed the ball wide right to first baseman Ronald Guzman, and put Toffey at third base with Darick Hall next.
Darick Hall hit a game-winning single to right field, scoring Toffey for a 4-3 win. The IronPigs had 11 hits and are 74-68 for the season, while the RailRiders are 78-64. Hall finished the night 2-3 with a home run and three RBIs.
In other scores, Rochester beat Buffalo 7-3, Norfolk beat Durham 13-7, Charlotte beat Jacksonville 3-2, and Syracuse shut out Worcester 5-0. The IronPigs are now 5.5 games behind Durham for first place with seven games left in the season.
The win went to IronPigs pitcher Michael Kelly. It was his second win of the season, while the loss went to RailRiders pitcher Anthony Banda. It was his first loss of the season.
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.
