The Lehigh Valley IronPigs (33-32) squared off with the Toledo Mud Hens (29-37) on Friday night in game four of a six-game homestand. Coming into this game, The IronPigs trailed the series 2-1. On Thursday night, the IronPigs’ pitching did a good job while the offense struggled in a 4-3 loss in twelve innings.
Before the game, the Philadelphia Phillies recalled outfielder Cristian Pache from his rehab assignment with Lehigh Valley and reinstated him to the active roster. To make room for Pache, the Phillies sent outfielder Dalton Guthrie back to Lehigh Valley following yesterday’s game in Arizona.
T.J. Zeuch (2-2, 5.24 ERA) was on the mound for Lehigh Valley playing in his eighth game of the year against Toledo’s Matt Manning (0-0, 0.00 ERA).
At the top of the first inning, Zeuch gave up a double to Parker Meadows to start the game. Next, Nick Solak tripled on a ground ball to right field, scoring Meadows for a 1-0 lead as Justyn-Henry Malloy approached the plate. He singled on a soft fly ball to right field that dropped in between Darick Hall, Esteban Quiroz, and Jake Cave, scoring Solak for a 2-0 lead.
Then, Zeuch struck out Tyler Nevin before getting Andrew Knapp to ground toward second baseman Esteban Quiroz for a double play which ended the inning.
In the bottom of the first inning, Jake Cave started the inning with a single. Two batters later with one out, Darick Hall singled on a ground ball toward shortstop Brendon Davis, moving Cave to third base. Weston Wilson was next. He grounded toward shortstop Brendon Davis for a forceout at second base but he beat the throw at first base while Cave scored. It was 2-1 Toledo with two outs for Simon Muzziotti. Muzziotti grounded toward pitcher Matt Manning, who made the throw to first baseman Andrew Knapp that ended the inning.
Toledo would get the run back at the top of the third inning. It started when Parker Meadows singled on a sharp line drive to right field. Two batters later with one out, T.J. Zeuch walked Justyn-Henry Malloy. Next, Tyler Nevin singled on a ground ball to left field, scoring Meadows for a 3-1 lead.
Then, Zeuch would get back-to-back ground outs from Andrew Knapp and Michael Papierski which retired the side. That was it for T.J. Zeuch, who pitched three innings, allowing five hits, three runs, two walks, and two strikeouts in 58 pitches, of which 37 were strikes.
In the bottom of the third inning, Lehigh Valley tried to respond when Drew Ellis and Darick Hall both hit singles with two outs for Weston Wilson. Unfortunately, Wilson grounded out toward third baseman Tyler Nevin for the final out of the inning.
For the second straight inning, Lehigh Valley had a chance to tie the game in the bottom of the fourth inning. Toledo pitcher Matt Manning walked Simon Muzziotti to start the inning. Manning was replaced by Sam Clay.
Two batters later, Rafael Marchan reached first base on a fielding error by Andrew Knapp as Muzziotti went to third base with one out for Jim Haley. Once again, Lehigh Valley could not score as Haley popped out and Esteban Quiroz lined out to third baseman Tyler Nevin which ended the inning.
Moving ahead to the fifth inning, Toledo started to pull away. Josh Hendrickson was pitching for Lehigh Valley making his debut from Reading. He gave up three straight singles to Nick Solak, Justyn-Henry Malloy, and Tyler Nevin that loaded the bases for Andrew Knapp.
Knapp singled on a sharp line drive to center field, scoring Solak for a 4-1 lead with nobody out for Michael Papierski. Papierski brought Malloy home with a sacrifice fly to left field, making it 5-1 with one out. Hendrickson got out of the inning on a ground out from Brendon Davis and struck out Grant Witherspoon for the third out.
For the third time in the game, Lehigh Valley had a golden opportunity to get back into the game in the bottom of the seventh inning. It started with back-to-back singles from Jim Haley and Esteban Quiroz with Jake Cave coming to bat. During his at-bat, Toledo pitcher Brenan Hanifee threw a wild pitch, moving Haley and Quiroz up a base.
However, Cave struck out and so did Drew Ellis with Darick Hall coming to the plate with two outs. Hall worked a walk, loading the bases for Weston Wilson. Once again, Lehigh Valley could not capitalize as Wilson struck out swinging for the third out.
Moving ahead to the bottom of the ninth inning, Lehigh Valley had one more chance to get back into the game with Brenan Hanifee still pitching for Toledo. With two outs, Drew Ellis walked and Darick Hall was the last batter to keep the game alive. Hall was unable to as he grounded toward second baseman John Valente for the final out of the game.
Lehigh Valley lost again to the Toledo Mud Hens by the final score of 5-1. With the loss, Toledo is on the verge of winning the series. Lehigh Valley are now on a two-game losing streak and are now 5-5 in their last ten games. The most the IronPigs can do is split the series if they win the next two games.
Lehigh Valley’s offense continues to struggle. They finished the night with eight hits, went 1 for 11 with runners in scoring position, and left 11 men on base. They can get the hits but are having trouble scoring the runs.
Lehigh Valley pitcher T.J. Zeuch lost his third game of the season, while Sam Clay earned his first win for Toledo, and Brenan Hanifee earned his first save of the season for the Mud Hens.
The IronPigs and Mud Hens 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.
