The Lehigh Valley IronPigs (12-14) concluded a six-game series at 121 Financial Ballpark on Sunday afternoon against the Jacksonville Jumbo Shrimp (13-12).
Coming into this game, the IronPigs led the series 3-2 and were looking for the series win but wild pitches and defensive miscues prevented them from winning the series.
Cristopher Sanchez (0-0, 1.04 ERA) was on the mound for Lehigh Valley against Jacksonville’s Sean Nolin (0-0, 6.75 ERA).
After two and a half scoreless innings, Lehigh Valley pitcher Cristopher Sanchez ran into trouble in the bottom of the third inning. Sanchez walked Xavier Edwards to begin the inning. Then, he gave up a single to Joey Wendle. During Jordan Groshans’s at-bat, Edwards and Wendle stole second and third base. Sanchez walked Groshans, loading the bases for Peyton Burdick.
Burdick singled as the ball rolled up over the glove of Weston Wilson and into left field, scoring Edwards for a 1-0 lead. Afterward, Sanchez walked Charles Leblanc and Jerar Encarnacion, walking home two more runs for a 3-0 lead still with no outs. Sanchez struck out Brian Miller before getting Cobie Fletcher-Vance to ground into a double play which ended the inning.
At the top of the fifth inning with two outs, Lehigh Valley scored their only run of the game on an Aramis Garcia solo home run out to left-center field. Jacksonville’s lead was now 3-1. It was Garcia’s second home run of the season. Jim Haley grounded out to end the inning.
Cristopher Sanchez walked Peyton Burdick and gave up a double to Charles Leblanc in the bottom of the fifth inning. He was replaced by Francisco Morales. The inning did not get better. After striking out Jerar Encarnacion, Brian Miller brought Burdick home with a sacrifice fly. It was now 4-1 Jacksonville. Then, Morales threw back-to-back wild pitches with one run resulting in a run. It was now 5-1 Jacksonville. Lehigh Valley catcher Aramis Garcia missed blocking both throws. However, in his defense, Morales should learn to control his arm and maybe he would not throw a lot of wild pitches.
Morales threw another wild pitch before walking the bases loaded, including hitting Santiago Chavez. Luckily, Joey Wendle struck out swinging which ended the inning.
Moving ahead to the top of the eighth inning, Lehigh Valley had a chance to get back into the game. Simon Muzziotti singled with one out. Two batters later, Dustin Peterson walked, and Jhailyn Ortiz was hit by a pitch, loading the bases for Vimael Machin. Machin struck out swinging to end the inning.
At the top of the ninth inning, Anthony Maldonado pitched for the Jumbo Shrimp. He struck out Weston Wilson, got Jordan Qsar to pop out, and struck out Aramis Garcia, ending the game. The IronPigs lose to the Jumbo Shrimp by the final score of 5-1. They split the series with Jacksonville and have lost two straight games.
Lehigh Valley pitcher Cristopher Sanchez lost his first game of the season. He pitched four innings, allowing five runs, seven walks, and five strikeouts in 84 pitches, of which 44 were strikes. Jacksonville’s Sean Nolin won his first game of the season and Anthony Maldonado earned his second save of the season.
Lehigh Valley continues its 12-game road trip on Tuesday against the Syracuse Mets at 6:35 pm on MiLB.com. Tickets for the game are available on StubHub and Viagogo. Also, pick up IronPigs merchandise today at Fanatics.com.
