The Lehigh Valley IronPigs (25-27) and the Scranton/Wilkes-Barre RailRiders (27-26) played game two of a six-game series on Wednesday night from Coca-Cola Park. Coming into this game, the RailRiders led the series 1-0.
Bailey Falter (2-0, 5.40 ERA) was on the mound for Lehigh Valley against Scranton/Wilkes-Barre’s Mitch Spence (4-2, 4.86 ERA).
At the top of the first inning, Bailey Falter gave up back-to-back singles to Oswald Peraza and Elijah Dunham with one out. Two batters later with two outs, Kole Calhoun singled off Lehigh Valley first baseman Justin Haley’s glove and into right field, scoring Peraza for a 1-0 lead. After walking Rodolfo Duran, Falter struck out Billy McKinney that retired the side.
Lehigh Valley’s offense was quiet in the first seven innings, only getting two hits and one walk. While the offense struggled, Lehigh Valley’s defense came up with big plays.
At the top of the fifth inning with one out and runners on first and second base, Andres Chaparro hit the ball to center field in the direction of Jake Cave who made a great diving catch. Then, he quickly threw to Weston Wilson at second base to complete the double play, ending the inning. Bailey Falter pitched five innings, allowing six hits, one run, three walks, and five strikeouts in 90 pitches, of which 58 were strikes.
Moving ahead to the top of the seventh inning, Bobby Bowden was pitching for Lehigh Valley. With one out, Oswald Peraza crushed Bowden’s slider for a solo home run into the IronPigs’ bullpen for a 2-0 RailRiders lead. Bowden picked up back-to-back strikeouts which ended the inning.
Moving to the bottom of the eighth inning, Lehigh Valley’s offense woke up. Deivi Garcia was the new pitcher for the RailRiders. Esteban Quiroz was first to face Garcia and he drew a walk. Next, John Hicks doubled to right field, moving Quiroz to third base. Two batters later with one out, Jake Cave walked, loading the bases for Weston Wilson.
Wilson brought Quiroz home with a sacrifice fly to center field, making it 2-1 RailRiders. Simon Muzziotti was next. He doubled to right field, scoring Hicks and Cave that gave the IronPigs a 3-2 lead. Drew Ellis popped out which ended the inning.
Andrew Bellatti attempted to close out the game for the IronPigs at the top of the ninth inning. With one out, Oswald Peraza hit Bellatti’s fastball 109 mph off the bat and over the wall at left field for 420 ft, tying the game 3-3. The IronPigs bullpen has blown 20 games this year. Bellatti picked up the final two outs and the game went to extra innings.
Erich Uelmen pitched for Lehigh Valley at the top of the tenth inning with Wilmer Difo starting at second base for the RailRiders. Kole Calhoun was the first to face Uelmen. He tripled off the wall at right field, scoring Difo for a 4-3 lead. Next, Rodolfo Duran singled to center field, scoring Calhoun for a 5-3 lead. Two batters later, Carlos Narvaez singled to right field, moving Duran to third base. Two batters later, Estevan Florial was next with two outs.
During his at-bat, a passed ball by John Hicks scored Duran, making it 6-3 RailRiders. Florial tripled to center field, scoring Narvaez, which was now 7-3. Oswald Peraza lined out toward second baseman Esteban Quiroz that ended the inning.
Esteban Quiroz started the bottom of the second inning on second base with Matt Bowman pitching for the RailRiders. With two outs, Bowman walked Jake Cave with Weston Wilson coming to the plate. Wilson doubled over third baseman Wilmer Difo’s head and into left field, scoring Quiroz and Cave. It was now 7-5 RailRiders. However, Simon Muzziotti grounded out that ended the game. The IronPigs lose to the RailRiders by the final score of 7-5.
Lehigh Valley finished the night with five hits, went 2-11 with runners in scoring position, and left five men on base. Lehigh Valley pitcher Erich Uelmen lost his second game of the season, while Matt Bowman earned his first win for Scranton/Wilkes-Barre.
The IronPigs and RailRiders play game three on Thursday at 6:45 pm on MiLB.com. Tickets for the game are available on StubHub and Viagogo. Also, pick up IronPigs merchandise today at Fanatics.com.
