The Lehigh Valley IronPigs (3-2) took on the Scranton/Wilkes-Barre RailRiders on Thursday night in game three of a six-game series. Before the game, the IronPigs elected to go to a bullpen game with Jesus Cruz (0-0, 0.00 ERA) on the mound against the RailRiders’ Ryan Weber (0-1, 20.25 ERA).
The IronPigs struck first in the bottom of the first inning with two outs on a Dalton Guthrie (1) solo home run. He hit a line drive to left field for a 1-0 lead. Then, IronPigs’ first baseman Weston Wilson grounded out to shortstop Jesus Bastidas which ended the inning.
The IronPigs bullpen did a good job in the first four innings. Jesus Cruz pitched two innings, allowing two hits and four strikeouts, and Jakob Hernandez pitched two shutout innings.
At the top of the fourth inning with two outs, IronPigs’ right fielder Dustin Peterson made a highlight reel catch when RailRiders’ right fielder Willie Calhoun flies out to right field and Peterson made a diving catch to end the inning.
In the bottom of the fourth inning with two outs, IronPigs’ second baseman Vimael Machin (2) hits a solo home run on a fly ball out to right field for a 2-0 lead.
At the top of the fifth inning, Jeremy Walker was the new IronPigs pitcher and the game went downhill from there. Walker gave up back-to-back singles to Jesus Bastidas and Michael Hermosillo. Then, Walker got Mickey Gasper to ground into a double play for two outs.
Afterward, Jose Godoy hit an RBI single to right field, scoring Jesus Bastidas. The IronPigs lead was now 2-1. Walker got Elijah Dunham to fly out to left field to end the inning.
Jeff Hoffman took over pitching duties for the IronPigs at the top of the seventh inning after Walker loaded the bases with one out. He struck out Jose Godoy before throwing a wild pitch but the IronPigs escaped when Aramis Garcia threw to Hoffman to get Bastidas out at home plate to end the inning.
At the top of the eighth inning, Jeff Hoffman walked Elijah Dunham, followed by an Oswald Peraza RBI double to the corner of left field, scoring Dunham that tied the game 2-2 with no outs. Then, Jamie Westbrook grounded toward Scott Kingery but Kingery overthrew Weston Wilson and another run was scored. It was now 3-2 RailRiders.
After Hoffman got Jake Bauers to fly out for the first out, he was replaced by Trey Cobb. Cobb gave up a double to Willie Calhoun, followed by intentionally walking Jesus Bastidas to load the bases. Furthermore, Cobb hit Michael Hermosillo and it was 4-2 RailRiders with one out. Cobb found a way to get the last two outs to end the inning.
Nick Ramirez closed out the game for the RailRiders in the bottom of the ninth inning. IronPigs’ center fielder Dalton Guthrie singled on a soft ground ball to Ramirez and beat the throw to first base. Then, Ramirez struck out Weston Wilson before getting Vimael Machin to ground into a double play that ended the game. The IronPigs dropped their second straight game by the final score of 4-2. The IronPigs left three runners on base in this game.
IronPigs pitcher Jeff Hoffman suffered his first loss of the season, while Matt Krook picked up his first win of the season and Ramirez earned his first save of the season.
The IronPigs and RailRiders play game four on Friday at 7:05 pm. Tickets for the game are available on StubHub and Viagogo, and pickup IronPigs merchandise today at Fanatics.com.
