The Lehigh Valley IronPigs (59-51, 23-14) and the Rochester Red Wings (53-58, 19-19) played game five of a six-game series on Saturday night from Innovative Field. The IronPigs led the series 3-1.
Before the game started, the Philadelphia Phillies announced that outfielder Christian Pache returned to the IronPigs on a rehab assignment. This is his second rehab assignment with Lehigh Valley this year. He was in the lineup playing center field.
Shaun Anderson (1-0, 3.86 ERA) was on the mound for Lehigh Valley making his fifth start of the season against Rochester’s Jackson Rutledge (1-1, 5.58 ERA).
At the top of the first inning, Kody Clemens worked a four-pitch walk. Two batters later, Darick Hall was up to bat with one out. Clemens took a big lead at first base and got caught trying to get back to the first base bag for the second out. Hall struck out swinging which ended the inning.
In the bottom of the first inning, Darren hit a line out toward Christian Pache. Pache made a nice diving catch but landed hard on his left shoulder. He was down for a few minutes before electing to stay in the game. Two batters later with two outs, Travis Blankenhorn came to the plate.
He hit Anderson’s hanging slider for a solo home run off the foul pole patio roof at right field for a 1-0 lead. Drew Millas was next. On a 1-2 count, Anderson threw a changeup to strikeout Millas which ended the inning.
At the top of the second inning, Drew Ellis put the ball down for a base hit to right field with Esteban Quiroz up to bat. Then, Quiroz hit the ball toward third baseman Erick Mejia for a 6-5-3 double play. A ground out by Dustin Peterson to second baseman Darren Baker, who threw the ball to first baseman Jake Noll ended the inning.
In the bottom of the third inning, Anderson gave up a single to Richie Martin, followed by a sacrifice bunt from Cody Wilson for the first out while Martin ran to second base.
Darren Baker was next. He hit a ground ball toward shortstop Jim Haley. Haley scooped up the ball and threw it low which bounced off Drew Ellis’s glove and Baker was safe a first base while Martin went to third base. A throwing error was charged to Haley.
Jack Dunn was next. He hit the ball toward shortstop Jim Haley, who threw it to first baseman Drew Ellis for the second out. Richie Martin scored which made it 2-0 Rochester. After Anderson hit Travis Blankenhorn, he got Drew Millas to ground out toward him. Anderson picked up the ball and threw it to Drew Ellis for the final out of the inning.
At the top of the sixth inning, Tim Cate was the new pitcher for Rochester. Lehigh Valley’s offense had two hits through the game’s first five innings. Kody Clemens and Christian Pache both hit singles with nobody out.
However, they were left stranded when Darick Hall flew out toward left fielder Travis Blankenhorn, a line out by Drew Ellis toward center fielder Cody Wilson, and Esteban Quiroz struck out swinging which ended the inning.
In the bottom of the sixth inning, Lehigh Valley pitcher Shaun Anderson gave up back-to-back singles to Travis Blankenhorn and Drew Millas. Three batters later with two outs, Erick Mejia hit Anderson’s sinker for a high fly ball to right field.
Lehigh Valley right fielder Jordan Qsar tried to make a diving catch but missed it and the ball rolled toward the right field wall. Christian Pache ran from center field to retrieve the ball while Blankenhorn and Millas scored to make it 4-0 Rochester. A pop-out by Richie Martin toward first baseman Drew Ellis in foul territory ended the inning.
That was it for Anderson, he finished the game pitching six innings, allowing six hits, four runs, three earned runs, and three strikeouts in 86 pitches, of which 58 were strikes. Walker threw 14 pitches to get three outs, of which ten were strikes.
Branden Zarbnisky was the new Lehigh Valley pitcher in the bottom of the eighth inning. He struck out Travis Blankenhorn, followed by a Drew Millas line out toward center fielder Christian Pache, and struck out Matt Adams which ended the inning. He threw 16 pitches, of which 11 were strikes.
Lehigh Valley had one more shot at the top of the ninth inning. Gerson Moreno was the new pitcher for Rochester. With one out, Moreno gave up a single to Dustin Peterson, followed by walking Jordan Qsar.
Rafael Marchan was next. He put the ball down for a base hit to left field. Peterson hustled around third base to score and Qsar ran to second base. It was now 4-1 Rochester.
With two outs, Moreno walked Kody Clemens which loaded the bases for Christian Pache. Pache grounded out toward shortstop Richie Martin, who threw the ball to first baseman Jake Noll for the final out of the game. The IronPigs lose to the Red Wings by the final score of 4-1. The loss ends the IronPigs’ three-game winning streak. The series is now 3-2 for Lehigh Valley.
Lehigh Valley’s offense was quiet in this game with six hits, went 1 for 7 with runners in scoring position, and left ten men on base. They had their chances in this game but were unable to execute. Lehigh Valley pitcher Shaun Anderson lost his first game for Lehigh Valley, and Jackson Rutledge won his second game of the year for Rochester.
The IronPigs will have another chance to clinch the series on Sunday against the Red Wings in the series finale at 1:05 pm on MiLB.com. Tickets for the game are available on StubHub and Viagogo. Also, pick up IronPigs merchandise today at Fanatics.com.
