The Lehigh Valley IronPigs (12-13) continued their six-game series on Saturday night at the 121 Financial Ballpark against the Jacksonville Jumbo Shrimp (12-12). Coming into this game, the IronPigs led the series 3-1. The game was delayed by an hour due to inclement weather.
T.J. Zeuch (1-1, 5.68 ERA) was on the mound for the Lehigh Valley against Jacksonville’s Jeff Lindgren (1-1, 5.06 ERA).
The IronPigs allowed eight runs in the first six innings; two came on the defense. Jacksonville took a 1-0 lead after catcher Aramis Garcia tried to gun down Brian Miller stealing second base but the ball bounced off the leg of Jim Haley and Xavier Edwards scored. Later, a groundout by Peyton Burdick made it 2-0 Jumbo Shrimp.
Moving ahead to the bottom of the fifth inning, Jerar Encarnacion singled to the corner of left field, scoring Peyton Burdick for a 3-0 lead. In the bottom of the sixth inning, Lehigh Valley pitcher T.J. Zeuch threw a low breaking ball onto the dirt and it got away from Aramis Garcia, moving Austin Allen to second base. Two batters later, Xavier Edwards batted but Zeuch threw a wild pitch, scoring Allen for a 4-0 lead.
Together, Zeuch and Ben Bowden loaded the bases for Charles Leblanc. He hit a grand slam over the wall at left field for an 8-0 lead.
Moving ahead to the top of the ninth inning, the IronPigs had one more shot to avoid being shut out. Jhailyn Ortiz and Scott Kingery both hit singles to begin the inning. Then, Weston Wilson walked that loaded the bases for Dustin Peterson.
Peterson brought Ortiz home with a sacrifice fly to right field. It was now 8-1 Jumbo Shrimp. However, Jacksonville pitcher Dylan Bice struck out Aramis Garcia and a ground out by Jim Haley ended the game. The IronPigs lost to the Jumbo Shrimp by the final score of 8-1.
The IronPigs had four hits in the game. They were 0-4 with runners in scoring position and left eight men on base.
Lehigh Valley pitcher T.J. Zeuch lost his second game of the season. He pitched 5.1 innings, allowing nine hits, five runs, three earned runs, four walks, and one strikeout in 87 pitches, of which 50 were strikes. The win went to Jacksonville pitcher Jeff Lindgren. It was his second win of the season.
The two teams conclude the series on Sunday at 3:05 pm. Tickets for the game are available on StubHub and Viagogo. Also, pick up IronPigs merchandise today at Fanatics.com.
