The Lehigh Valley IronPigs (49-44) and the Toledo Mud Hens (40-55) concluded a six-game series from Fifth Third Field on Sunday afternoon. Lehigh Valley already won the series and was looking to close it with another win.
T.J. Zeuch (3-4, 4.80 ERA) was on the mound for Lehigh Valley making his 13th start of the season against Toledo’s Ashton Goudeau (1-4, 7.36 ERA).
At the top of the second inning, Ashton Goudeau walked Drew Ellis to begin the inning. Next, Jordan Qsar put the ball down for a base hit to right field moving Ellis to third base with Aramis Garcia up to bat. Garcia hit the ball toward second baseman Colt Keith.
Keith briefly bobbled the ball before picking it up and stepping on the second base bag for the forceout. Ellis scored during the play which put Lehigh Valley up 1-0. Esteban Quiroz popped out and Scott Kingery struck out which ended the inning.
In the bottom of the second inning, T.J. Zeuch walked Grant Witherspoon. Two batters later with one out, he gave up a single to John Valente with Witherspoon moving to second base.
Two batters later with two outs, Corey Joyce hit the ball past left fielder Kody Clemens bringing two runs home that made it 2-1 Toledo. After Parker Meadows hit a single with two outs, the inning ended when Justyn-Henry Malloy hit a ground ball to T.J. Zeuch, who threw the ball toward first baseman Darick Hall for the final out.
Lehigh Valley right fielder Cal Stevenson started the top of the third inning with a base hit to right field. Two batters later with one out, Kody Clemens hit Goudeau’s fastball for a two-run home run over the wall at right field which put the IronPigs back in the lead 3-2. It was Clemens’s second home run in two days. He now has nine RBIs for the season. Darick Hall struck out, and Drew Ellis flies out toward right fielder Nick Solak, ending the inning.
Moving to the top of the fourth inning, Jordan Qsar hit a high fly ball off the wall at center field for his eleventh double of the season. Next, Aramis Garcia flies out to center fielder Grant Witherspoon which moved Qsar to third base with Esteban Quiroz up next.
Quiroz brought Qsar home with a sacrifice fly to left field which extended Lehigh Valley’s lead to 4-2 with two outs. Scott Kingery popped out toward first baseman Tyler Nevin which ended the inning.
At the top of the sixth inning, Lehigh Valley had a chance to add more runs. Aramis Garcia singled on a ground ball to second baseman Colt Keith with two outs. Esteban Quiroz was next. During his at-bat, Toledo pitcher Sean Guenther threw a wild pitch which moved Garcia to second base.
Then, Guenther walked Quiroz with Scott Kingery up to bat. Toledo changed pitchers with Braden Bristo in to face Kingery. Kingery struck out swinging that ended the inning.
In the bottom of the sixth inning, Lehigh Valley pitcher T.J. Zeuch walked Grant Witherspoon before getting Nick Solak to ground into a double play. After walking John Valente, Zeuch was replaced by Tyler McKay. McKay got Andrew Knapp to flyout toward left fielder Kody Clemens, who made the catch that ended the inning.
Lehigh Valley pitcher T.J. Zeuch finished the afternoon pitching 5.2 innings, allowing five hits, two runs, four walks, and two strikeouts in 90 pitches, of which 56 were strikes.
Moving to the top of the eighth inning, Lehigh Valley added an insurance run. Trey Wingenter was the new pitcher for Toledo. With two outs, Jordan Qsar hit a high fly ball off the wall at left field for his twelfth double of the season. Aramis Garcia was next. He put the ball down for a base hit to left field and scoring from second base was Qsar for a 5-2 lead.
Esteban Quiroz hit a ground ball toward third baseman John Valente, who threw the ball to first baseman Tyler Nevin for the third out. In the bottom of the eighth inning, Seranthony Dominguez pitched for Lehigh Valley. He threw 13 pitches to strike out the side.
Moving to the top of the ninth inning, Miguel Diaz was the new pitcher for Toledo. With one out, Cal Stevenson hit a double on a sharp line drive to right field. It was Stevenson’s third double of the year. Simon Muzziotti was next. He moved Stevenson to third base with a ground out to first base for the second out.
Kody Clemens was next. He put the ball down for a base hit past a diving Tyler Nevin and into the corner of right field for an RBI double. Cal Stevenson scored which made it 6-2 Lehigh Valley. It was Clemens’s second double of the year and tenth RBI of the season. Clemens finished 2-4 with three RBIs.
Darick Hall grounds out to shortstop Corey Joyce, who threw the ball to first baseman Tyler Nevin for the final out of the inning. Connor Brogdon closed out the game for Lehigh Valley in the bottom of the ninth inning.
Brogdon struck out Nick Solak and John Valente before getting Andrew Knapp to fly out toward center fielder Simon Muzziotti, who made the catch that ended the game. The IronPigs defeated the Mud Hens by the final score of 6-2.
In addition, the IronPigs win the series 7-5 over Toledo. They do not play Toledo again for the rest of the season. Lehigh Valley finished the afternoon with nine hits, went 2 for 9 with runners in scoring position, and left six men on base. Lehigh Valley pitcher T.J. Zeuch won his fourth game of the year, and Ashton Goudeau lost his fifth game of the season for Toledo.
Lehigh Valley returns to Coca-Cola Park to begin a 12-game homestand. They take on the Syracuse Mets starting Tuesday at 11 am on MiLB.com. Tickets for the game are available on StubHub and Viagogo. Also, pick up IronPigs merchandise today at Fanatics.com.
