The Lehigh Valley IronPigs (3-3) and the Scranton/Wilkes-Barre RailRiders 4-3) played game four of a six-game series on Friday night from Coca-Cola Park. Coming into this game, Michael Plassmeyer (0-0, 8.10) was on the mound for Lehigh Valley against Tanner Tully.
The IronPigs got off to a good start in the bottom of the first inning. After a Scott Kingery double, center fielder Dalton Guthrie tripled on a sharp fly ball off the wall at right field. Coming in to score was Kingery for a 1-0 lead.
Two batters later, third baseman Vimael Machin drove Guthrie home with an RBI double after left fielder Elijah Dunham could not make a sliding catch. It was now 2-0 IronPigs. Afterward, Dustin Peterson and John Hicks could not bring Machin home as the inning ended.
The game’s turning point happened at the top of the second inning. With a runner on first base, RailRiders’ third baseman Jesus Bastidas hit a two-run home run on a fly ball to left-center field, tying the game 2-2. Three batters later, with runners on second and third base with one out, shortstop Wilmer Difo brought Billy McKinney home with a sacrifice fly to right field for a 3-2 lead. Then, Plassmeyer struck out Michael Hermosillo to end the inning.
At the top of the third inning, the RailRiders added another run. Jesus Bastidas was up again with one out and runners on second and third base. He drove Elijah Dunham home with a sacrifice fly to left fielder Simon Muzziotti for a 4-2 lead. Afterward, Plassmeyer got Billy McKinney to pop out toward third baseman Vimael Machin which ended the inning.
At the top of the fourth inning, IronPigs’ left fielder Simon Muzziotti made a great catch up against the wall with two outs on a flyout by Michael Hermosillo.
Michael Plassmeyer finished the game pitching four innings, allowing five hits, four runs, two walks, and two strikeouts in 70 pitches, of which 44 were strikes.
Moving ahead to the bottom of the fifth inning, RailRiders pitcher D.J. Snelten walked Scott Kingery and Dalton Guthrie. Two batters later, he walked Vimael Machin with one out that loaded the bases. With two outs, Snelten walked John Hicks to force in a run, now 4-3 RailRiders. Snelten was replaced by Michael Gomez, who got Esteban Quiroz to ground out that ended the inning. The forced run did provide some momentum for the IronPigs.
In the bottom of the seventh inning with one out and runners on the corners, IronPigs’ first baseman John Hicks doubled on a sharp line drive to center field, scoring Jim Haley and Dustin Peterson to put the IronPigs up 6-5. However, they could not bring Haley home and the inning ended.
At the top of the eighth inning, Yunior Marte was the new IronPigs pitcher. He walked Andres Chaparro and gave up a single to Elijah Dunham with no outs. Two batters later with one out, Jesus Bastidas singled on a line drive to center field, scoring Chaparro that tied the game 5-5. Next, Billy McKinney singled on a line drive to left field, scoring Dunham for a 6-5 lead. Marte struck out Rodolfo Duran and Mickey Gasper which ended the inning.
Greg Weissert closed out the game for the RailRiders in the bottom of the ninth inning. With one out, Weissert hit Dustin Peterson on the shoulder. Finally, Weissert got John Hicks and Esteban Quiroz out, ending the game. The IronPigs dropped their third game in a row by the final score of 6-5.
The win went to RailRiders pitcher Aaron McGarity. It was his second win of the season, while the loss went to Yunior Marte, and Greg Weissert earned his third save of the season. The IronPigs were 3-for-16 with runners and scoring position, leaving 11 runners on base.
The IronPigs and RailRiders play a doubleheader on Saturday. The first game starts at 12:35 pm and the second game starts at 5:35 pm. Tickets for both games are available on StubHub and Viagogo, and pickup IronPigs merchandise today at Fanatics.com.
