On Thursday night at Coca-Cola Park, the Lehigh Valley IronPigs took on the Scranton/Wilkes-Barre RailRiders in game three of the series. The IronPigs won on Wednesday night 4-3 and trailed the Durham Bulls by 5.5 games for first place with seven games left in the season.
One transaction occurred before the game as the IronPigs moved pitcher Jack Perkins to the Development List. Trevor Bettencourt (0-0, 3.38 ERA) was on the mound for the IronPigs, while the RailRiders started Zach Greene (9-0, 3.34 ERA).
IronPigs pitcher Trevor Bettencourt gave up three straight singles to Anthony Volpe, Ben Rortvedt, and Ryan LaMarre with one out. Then, Ronald Guzman drove Volpe home with a sacrifice fly to left field for a 1-0 lead with Chris Owings coming to the plate.
Owings singled on a ground ball towards shortstop Scott Kingery, but Kingery did not have a play, while Rortvedt scored, and it was 2-0 RailRiders. Rob Brantley flew out towards center fielder Madison Strokes, ending the inning. That was it for Bettencourt, who went an inning, allowing four hits, two runs, no walks, and no strikeouts in 17 pitches, of which 11 were strikes.
In the bottom of the first inning, IronPigs’ left fielder Dustin Peterson doubled to right field with two outs. It was Peterson’s 22nd double of the season. Unfortunately, Josh Ockimey grounded out towards second baseman Chris Owings, ending the inning.
Jonathan Hennigan was the new IronPigs pitcher at the top of the second inning. Hennigan got back-to-back strikeouts from Tyler Wade and Michael Beltre before getting Estevan Florial to ground out towards third baseman Johan Camargo, ending the inning. That was it for Hennigan, who pitched an inning, no hits, no runs, no walks, and two strikeouts in ten pitches, of which eight were strikes.
James Marvel was the IronPigs pitcher at the top of the third inning. He got Anthony Volpe to ground out, struck out Ben Rortvedt, and got Ryan LaMarre to pop out towards second baseman Ali Castillo, ending the inning. Marvel went one more inning and finished pitching two innings, with no hits, no runs, no walks, and three strikeouts in 26 pitches, of which 17 were strikes.
IronPigs’ first baseman Darick Hall started the bottom of the fourth inning with a walk. Three batters later, Jorge Bonifacio moved Hall to third base with a double to left field. It was Bonifacio’s 17th double of the season. Johan Camargo was next and hit a three-run home run over the Cedar Crest College sign at right field to give Lehigh Valley a 3-2 lead.
It was Camargo’s second home run of the season and the 133rd home run for Lehigh Valley this year. Madison Strokes was next but was called on strikes, ending the inning.
Braeden Ogle was the new IronPigs pitcher at the top of the fifth inning. He gave up a single to Michael Beltre with one out, followed by walking Estevan Florial with Anthony Volpe coming to the plate.
Ogle got Anthony Volpe to fly out towards center fielder Madison Strokes before getting Ben Rortvedt to ground out towards Darick Hall. Hall made a great diving play and threw the ball over to Ogle, ending the inning. That was it for Ogle, who went an inning with no hits, no runs, one walk, and no strikeouts in 24 pitches, of which 11 were strikes.
In the bottom of the fifth inning, IronPigs’ second baseman Ali Castillo walked with one out. Two batters later, IronPigs’ first baseman Darick walked with Dustin Peterson next. Peterson doubled out towards center field, scoring Castillo and Hall for a 5-2 lead with two outs. Josh Ockimey grounded out towards first baseman Ronald Guzman, ending the inning.
Taylor Scott was the new IronPigs pitcher at the top of the sixth inning. He walked Ronald Guzman with one out before giving up a single to Chris Owings, moving Guzman to second base. Two batters later, he gave up another single to Tyler Wade, scoring Guzman and Lehigh Valley’s lead was down to two, 5-3, with two outs.
Michael Beltre was next and singled to right field, scoring two more runs, tying the game 5-5. After giving up a single to Estevan Florial, Scott was replaced by Erik Miller with two outs. Miller hit Anthony Volpe, loading the bases for Ben Rortvedt. Rortvedt popped out towards third baseman Johan Camargo, ending the inning.
At the top of the seventh inning, IronPigs pitcher Erik Miller gave up a double to Armando Alvarez, followed by walking Chris Owings with one out. Two batters later, Miller gave up a single to Tyler Wade, loading the bases for Blake Perkins. Miller forced in a run when he walked Perkins, and the RailRiders took a 6-5 lead. Miller was replaced by Chris Devenski, who got Estevan Florial to fly out towards left fielder Dustin Peterson, ending the inning.
Michael Kelly was the new IronPigs pitcher at the top of the eighth inning. He gave up a solo home run to Ben Rortvedt that hit the WFMZ 69 sign at right field for a 7-5 lead with one out. Kelly walked Ryan LaMarre and gave up a single to Armando Alvarez before striking out Chris Owings and getting Rob Brantley to ground out, ending the inning.
Ofreidy Gomez was the new IronPigs pitcher at the top of the ninth inning. He gave up a double to Blake Perkins with one out and Estevan Florial up next. He threw a wild pitch, moving Perkins to third base, and Florial singled to center field, scoring Perkins for an 8-5 lead. Two batters later, he walked Ben Rortvedt with two outs before striking out Ryan LaMarre, ending the inning.
The IronPigs had one more chance to get back into the game in the bottom of the ninth inning, facing Luke Bard. Bard walked IronPigs’ catcher Vito Friscia, followed by a single from Ali Castillo with no outs. Then, Scott Kingery reached first base on a fielder’s choice when Chris Owings tossed the ball high to shortstop Anthony Volpe, and everyone was safe for Darick Hall.
Hall flew out towards right fielder Blake Perkins, with Dustin Peterson next. Peterson grounded towards pitcher Luke Bard for the forceout at second base, but Friscia scored, and it was 8-6. Then, Bard’s throw went off the glove of catcher Ben Rortvedt, and Ali Castillo scored for a one-run game, 8-7, with Josh Ockimey next.
Unfortunately, Ockimey flew out towards center fielder Estevan Florial, and the IronPigs lost 8-7. Lehigh Valley had seven hits. Their record is 74-69, and 6.5 games back behind Durham for first place with six games left in the season. Meanwhile, the RailRiders are now 78-64.
In other scores, Durham beat Norfolk 7-6; Buffalo beat Rochester 10-2; Jacksonville beat Charlotte 9-4; Worcester lost to Syracuse 4-2. The bad news for Lehigh Valley is that any combination of a loss and a Bulls win from here on out will officially eliminate them from playoff contention.
The win went to RailRiders pitcher José Mujica for his third win of the year, while IronPigs pitcher Erik Miller lost his first game of the season.
The series continues tomorrow at 7:05 pm. Tickets for the game can be purchased on StubHub, and pick up IronPigs merchandise today at Fanatics.com.
