The Lehigh Valley IronPigs (60-52, 24-14)) returned to Coca-Cola Park on Tuesday to start a six-game series against the Jacksonville Jumbo Shrimp (56-58, 24-16) for the first time in Allentown, PA.
This is the second meeting this year between these two teams. In their first-ever meeting in Jacksonville, the IronPigs split the series 3-3 with the Jumbo Shrimp.
Griff McGarry (0-0, 27.00 ERA) was on the mound for Lehigh Valley making his second start against Jacksonville’s Daniel Castano (2-0, 2.65 ERA).
The game got ugly for the IronPigs at the top of the first inning. Griff McGarry walked six batters, hit one batter, and walked in four runs with nobody out. Jacksonville led 4-0 with Brett Schultze replacing McGarry.
Then, Schultze walked Jerar Encarnacion which made it 5-0. Two batters later, he walked Xavier Edwards followed by walking Garrett Hampson that made it 7-0 Jacksonville with one out. All those runs were charged to McGarry.
Schultze struck out Troy Johnston and got Dane Myers to fly out toward right fielder Dustin Peterson for the final out of the inning. McGarry’s final stats allowed seven runs and six walks in 35 pitches, of which seven were strikes. The inning lasted 28 minutes.
Lehigh Valley’s offense cut Jacksonville’s lead in the bottom of the first inning. Cristian Pache started the inning by working a four-pitch walk.
Next, Kody Clemens put the ball down for a base hit to center field. Then, Dustin Peterson hit Castano’s fastball for a base hit down the line past a diving third baseman Jordan Groshans and into left field. Peterson ran to second base and Pache rounded third base to score. It was now 7-1 Jacksonville. It was Peterson’s tenth double of the season and 36th RBI of the year.
Darick Hall was next. On a 2-2 count, Hall hit Castano’s fastball for an opposite-field three-run home run over the wall at left field which made it 7-4 Jacksonville. It was Hall’s tenth home run of the season and 34th RBI of the year. Lehigh Valley did not add any more runs in the inning.
At the top of the second inning, Brett Schultz’s walked Jacob Amaya with one out with Jordan Groshans up to bat. During Groshans at-bat, Amaya stole second base. Then, Groshans hit Schultze’s curveball for an RBI double on a one-hop off the center field wall. Amaya rounded third base to score for an 8-4 lead.
Schultze got out of the inning when Jerar Encarnacion grounded out toward shortstop Scott Kingery and struck out Jake Mangum to end the inning. That was it for Schultze, he finished the night pitching two innings, allowing one hit, one run, four walks, and three strikeouts in 45 pitches, of which 24 were strikes.
Lehigh Valley had a chance to get closer to Jacksonville in the bottom of the second inning. Daniel Castano walked Rafael Marchan and Scott Kingery with Cristian Pache up to bat. Pache hit into a 6-4-3 double play for two outs. Kody Clemens was next with Marchan at third base. Clemens flies out toward center fielder Jake Mangum, who made the catch to end the inning.
Jose Alvarado was the new pitcher for Lehigh Valley making a rehab start. Alvarado gave up a single to Garrett Hampson with one out. Two batters later with two outs, he struck out Dane Myers which ended the inning. Alvarado threw 17 pitches, of which 13 were strikes.
Noah Skirrow was the new Lehigh Valley pitcher at the top of the fourth inning. With two outs, he gave up a single to Jordan Groshans. Next, Jerar Encarnacion hit Skirrow’s fastball for a two-run opposite field home run over the wall at right field.
It was now 10-4 Jacksonville and Encarnacion’s 23rd home run of the season. Two batters later with a runner on first base, Skirrow struck out Xavier Edwards which ended the inning.
Simon Muzziotti started the bottom of the fourth inning hitting Castano’s fastball for a solo home run over the wall at right field which made it 10-5 Jacksonville. It was Muzziotti’s fifth home run of the season and 48th RBI of the year. Lehigh Valley did not add any more runs in the inning.
Moving ahead to the bottom of the sixth inning, Lehigh Valley had a chance to get closer to Jacksonville. Eli Villalobos was the new Jacksonville pitcher. With one out, Simon Muzziotti put the ball down for a base hit to left field.
Two batters later with two outs, Villalobos walked Rafael Marchan with Scott Kingery coming to bat. During his at-bat, Villalobos threw a wild pitch and Muzziotti went to third base but Kingery struck out swinging which ended the inning.
At the top of the seventh inning, Skirrow gave up a single to Garrett Hampson and went to second base on a fielding error by Darick Hall. Skirrow threw the ball wide to Hall and he lost his glove trying to get the ball. The call was Hall threw his mitt but in replay the glove came off as he tried to dive for the ball.
Two batters later with two outs, Dane Myers put the ball down for a base hit to right field scoring Hampson which made it 11-5. Two batters later, he struck out Jacob Amaya which ended the inning. That was it for Skirrow. He finished the night pitching four innings, allowing seven hits, three runs, two earned runs, two walks, and five strikeouts in 84 pitches, of which 47 were strikes.
Braden Zarbnisky was the new Lehigh Valley pitcher at the top of the eighth inning. He threw 12 pitches to get three out, of which nine were strikes, and Ben Bowden pitched the top of the ninth inning throwing seven pitches to get three outs, of which six were strikes.
Lehigh Valley had one more chance to get back into the game in the bottom of the ninth inning. With two outs, Kody Clemens put the ball down for a base hit to right field with Dustin Peterson up to bat. Peterson grounded toward shortstop Jacob Amaya, who threw the ball to first baseman Troy Johnston for the final out of the game. The IronPigs lose to the Jumbo Shrimp by the final score of 11-5.
Lehigh Valley finished the night with seven hits, went 2 for 6 with runners in scoring position, and left seven men on base. Simon Muzziotti had a good night with three hits in four appearances with one home run and one RBI.
Lehigh Valley pitcher Griff McGarry lost his first game. McGarry needs to go back to Reading right now. I don’t understand how he earned a promotion to Lehigh Valley when his numbers in Reading were not good.
He has control issues with his pitches and is missing the strike zone. McGarry desperately needs a pitching coach, which by the way is on vacation, to help him work on his issues.
In two starts for Lehigh Valley, McGarry has pitched 2.2 innings, allowing seven hits, 15 runs, nine walks, and one hit batsmen. McGarry needs to work with a pitching coach not employed by the Phillies if he wants to get better. Maybe Cole Hamels or Mitch Williams can help him with his control issues and regain confidence because right now he has none. I feel bad for the guy because I think if he can work on his pitches, he can be a better pitcher than he is right now.
The IronPigs and Jumbo Shrimp play game two on Wednesday at 7:05 pm on MiLB.com. Tickets for the game are available on StubHub and Viagogo. Also, pick up IronPigs merchandise today at Fanatics.com.
