The Lehigh Valley IronPigs (27-27) and the Scranton/Wilkes-Barre RailRiders (27-28) played game four of a six-game series on Friday night.
The IronPigs changed their name to the Hoagies as part of Salute to Philly Night. Coming into this game, the IronPigs trailed the RailRiders 2-1 in this series. Darick Hall made his return to the IronPigs on a rehab assignment from the Philadelphia Phillies.
Noah Skirrow (4-1, 5.82 ERA) was on the mound for Lehigh Valley against Scranton/Wilkes-Barre’s Randy Vasquez (1-5, 4.85 ERA).
At the top of the first inning with one out, Noah Skirrow walked Oswald Peraza, followed by a single from Ben Rortvedt, moving Peraza up to second base. Andres Chaparro was next. He singled to left field, scoring Peraza for a 1-0 lead. Lehigh Valley’s defense came up with a big play when Elijah Dunham hit the ball and Scott Kingery leaped up in the air to catch it and step on second base to complete the double play that ended the inning.
In the bottom of the first inning with one out, Randy Vasquez walked Scott Kingery, followed by a Darick Hall groundout that moved Kingery to second base. Dustin Peterson was next. He singled to right field, scoring Kingery that tied the game 1-1. Then, Simon Muzziotti flies out to left fielder Estevan Florial which ended the inning.
Noah Skirrow walked Kole Calhoun to start the top of the second inning. Two batters later with one out, Billy McKinney hit Skirrow’s fastball over the wall at right field, giving the RailRiders a 3-1 lead. Skirrow picked up the final two outs to retire the side.
In the bottom of the fourth inning, Dustin Peterson hit Vasquez’s fastball onto the berm at left-center field, cutting the RailRiders’ lead to 3-2. It was Peterson’s fifth home run of the year. Two batters later, Vasquez walked Jim Haley with Jhailyn Ortiz approaching the plate with one out. He singled to right field, moving Haley to third base.
Next, Vimael Machin singled on a sharp line drive that went off the glove of Wilmer Difo and into center field, scoring both Haley and Ortiz which tied the game 3-3. Lehigh Valley was unable to add any more runs in the inning.
Moving ahead to the bottom of the fifth inning, Scott Kingery and Darick Hall both singled. Hall’s single moved Kingery to third base. Two batters later with one out, Simon Muzziotti grounded toward first baseman Carlos Narvaez for the out but Kingery scored, putting the IronPigs up 4-3. The RailRiders changed pitchers and Jim Haley struck out which ended the inning.
At the top of the sixth inning with two outs and a runner on first base, the IronPigs replaced Noah Skirrow with Taylor Lehman. This was a good performance for Skirrow, who pitched 5.2 innings, allowing four hits, three runs, five walks, and two strikeouts in 103 pitches, of which 55 were strikes. Lehman got the last out to retire the side.
Moving ahead to the bottom of the eighth inning, the IronPigs added an insurance run. Greg Weissert was pitching for the RailRiders. Dustin Peterson was up first and Weissert walked him. Next, Simon Muzziotti singled to center field, moving Peterson to second base. Then, the bases were loaded after a catcher’s interference as Jim Haley went to first base.
Jailyn Ortiz was next and he brought home Peterson with a sacrifice fly to left field. It was now 5-3 IronPigs. Later, a passed ball by catcher Ben Rortvedt moved everyone up a base. Then, Vimael Machin reached first base on a fielder’s choice after RailRiders’ third baseman Andres Chaparro threw to home plate to get Muzziotti out. Vito Friscia was next. However, during his plate appearance, Machin tried to steal second base but got caught in a rundown, allowing Jim Haley to score before Machin was tagged out, ending the inning. Lehigh Valley led 6-3 after eight innings.
Ben Bowden closed out the game for the IronPigs at the top of the ninth inning. He walked Ben Rortvedt with two outs before getting Andres Chaparro to fly out toward left fielder Simon Muzziotti, who made the catch for the final out of the game. The IronPigs defeated the RailRiders by the final score of 6-3. Lehigh Valley scored five unanswered runs to win the game.
Lehigh Valley finished the night with eight hits, committed one error, went 2-8 with runners in scoring position, and left five men on base. Noah Skirrow won his fifth game of the season for Lehigh Valley, while Randy Vasquez lost his sixth game of the year. Ben Bowden recorded his first save of the season.
The IronPigs and the RailRiders play game five on Saturday 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.
