The Lehigh Valley IronPigs (40-41) and the Scranton/Wilkes-Barre RailRiders (39-42) played game two of a six-game series on Wednesday night from PNC Field. The IronPigs came into this game leading the series 1-0 to take a 7-6 overall lead in the season series.
T.J. Zeuch (3-3, 4.96 ERA) was on the mound for Lehigh Valley making his 11th start of the season against Scranton/Wilkes-Barre’s Will Warren (3-3, 5.22 ERA).
In the bottom of the first inning, T.J. Zeuch walked Oswald Peraza with one out for Everson Pereira. Pereira hit the ball toward second baseman Esteban Quiroz but Pereira reached first base on a throwing error by Quiroz and everyone was safe.
Two batters later with two outs, Andres Chaparro hit Zeuch’s slider past a diving third baseman Drew Ellis and onto left field for a two-run double. Peraza and Pereira scored for a 2-0 RailRiders lead. Franchy Cordero was next. He singled to right field which scored Chaparro for a 3-0 lead. Rodolfo Duran grounded out toward third baseman Drew Ellis, who made the throw to first baseman Jim Haley for the final out of the inning.
Moving to the bottom of the third inning, it got worse for T.J. Zeuch. He gave up back-to-back singles to Everson Pereira and Ben Rortvedt which moved Pereira to third base. Next, Andres Chaparro singled to left field that scored Pereira for a 4-0 lead with Franchy Cordero next.
Cordero singled on a line drive to right field which scored Ben Rortvedt for a 5-0 lead and Andres Chaparro went to third base with Rodolfo Duran up to bat. He brought Chaparro home with a sacrifice fly toward left fielder Kody Clemens. It was now 6-0 lead RailRiders.
Wilmer Difo was next. During his at-bat, Cordero got caught stealing second base for the second out. However, Difo hit Zeuch’s slide for a solo home run onto the Chevrolet Homer Zone berm at right field for a 7-0 lead.
After giving up a single to Brandon Lockridge, Zeuch got Estevan Florial to fly out toward left fielder Kody Clemens, who made the catch for the final out of the inning.
The IronPigs’ offense did not have a hit in the first three innings. At the top of the fourth inning with two outs, Kody Clemens double on a one-hop off the left field wall. Lehigh Valley could not get anything going when Drew Ellis flies out to right fielder Estevan Florial which ended the inning.
Trey Cobb was the new Lehigh Valley pitcher in the bottom of the fifth inning. T.J. Zeuch had a rough night pitching four innings, allowing 10 hits, seven runs, four earned runs, one walk, and three strikeouts in 91 pitches, of which 60 were strikes. Cobb needed seven pitches to get out of the inning without allowing a run.
Lehigh Valley had their first real shot to get on the board at the top of the sixth inning. Will Warren walked Jake Cave with two outs and Weston Wilson was due up to bat. Wilson singled to right field which moved Cave to third base.
That was it for Warren, who was replaced by Aaron McGarity. Kody Clemens was next with a chance to get Lehigh Valley on the board. Unfortunately, Clemens struck out swinging which ended the inning.
In the bottom of the sixth inning, the RailRiders added more runs. Wilmer Difo started the inning hitting a double to right field. Two batters later, Trey Cobb walked Estevan Florial and hit Oswald Peraza which loaded the bases for Everson Pereira.
Pereira singled on a ground ball to left field which scored Difo and Florial. It was now 9-0. Two batters later, Andres Chaparro hit Cobb’s fastball for a three-run home run into the RailRiders’ bullpen at left field for a 12-0 lead. After walking Franchy Cordero, Cobb got Rodolfo Duran to fly out toward center fielder Jake Cave for the final out of the inning.
With no pitchers left, the IronPigs turned to outfielder Dustin Peterson to pitch in the bottom of the eighth inning. Peterson walked Andres Chaparro, Franchy Cordero, and Rodolfo Duran. The bases were loaded for Wilmer Difo. Difo grounded toward second baseman Esteban Quiroz.
Quiroz tossed the ball to Weston Wilson before Wilson threw it to Jim Haley for a double play. However, Chaparro scored and it was 13-0. Brandon Lockridge was next. He singled on a line drive to left field which scored Cordero for a 14-0 lead with two outs for Estevan Florial. Floral flies out to center fielder Jake Cave which ended the inning.
Lehigh Valley had one more shot to get on the board at the top of the ninth inning. Michael Feliz was pitching for Scranton/Wilkes-Barre. Weston Wilson was the first to face Feliz. He struck out swinging. Next was Kody Clemens he grounded out toward second baseman Wilmer Difo for the second out.
Finally, Drew Ellis flies out toward left fielder Franchy Cordero that ended the game. The RailRiders shut out the IronPigs by the final score of 14-0. This was the worse loss for the IronPigs this year.
This was not Lehigh Valley’s night. The RailRiders had their number all night and everything that could go wrong for the IronPigs did. The last time Lehigh Valley was shutout was June 21st against the Worcester Red Sox.
All the players can do is put this one behind them and get ready for the next game. The players work hard every day and when they don’t have good coaching, their development goes to waste. We have seen guys have better performances but, on this night, it was not meant to be.
As for the coaches, while they do deserve the blame. It is hard to blame them when this is the roster the Phillies gave them. The Phillies have lacked good scouts and coaches for a long time and it shows in the minor leagues. The Phillies can change all of this by hiring good scouts and coaches that will help them all around to become a better organization.
Lehigh Valley’s offense was quiet tonight with three hits, 0-2 with runners in scoring position, and left four men on base. Lehigh Valley pitcher T.J. Zeuch lost his fourth game of the season, while Will Warren won his fourth game of the year for the RailRiders.
The IronPigs and RailRiders play game three on Thursday 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.
