The Lehigh Valley IronPigs (64-53, 28-15) concluded a six-game series on Sunday afternoon against the Jacksonville Jumbo Shrimp (57-62, 25-20) from Coca-Cola Park. The IronPigs have already won the series leading 4-1 and were looking to add one more to conclude the weekend.
Before the game, the Phillies recalled outfielder Brandon Marsh from his rehab assignment and reinstated him to the active roster. Lehigh Valley went with a bullpen game. Brett Schultze (0-0, 4.38 ERA) was on the mound for the IronPigs making his first start in eight games played against Jacksonville’s Dylan Bice (0-3, 5.09 ERA).
At the top of the first inning, Schultze walked Garrett Hampson with one out with Xavier Edwards up to bat. During Edwards’s at-bat, Schultze tried to pick Hampson off twice. However, he tried again for the third time and Hampson went to second base on a disengagement violation. Pitchers are only allowed two disengagement pickoff attempts. After that, the baserunner advances if a pitcher goes over the limit which Schultze did.
Next, Schulze struck out Edwards with Troy Johnston up to bat. During his at-bat, Schultze threw a wild pitch and Hampson went to third base. Then, Johnston flies out toward center fielder Cal Stevenson, who made the catch to end the inning.
Lehigh Valley took the lead in the bottom of the first inning. With two outs, Aramis Garcia hit Bice’s fastball for a solo home run over the wall at left-center field for a 1-0 lead. It was Garcia’s tenth home run of the season and 32nd RBI of the year.
The home run went 391 feet and the exit velocity was 98.5 mph. After a single by Simon Muzziotti, Dustin Peterson popped out toward second baseman Jacob Amaya, who made the catch that ended the inning.
Lehigh Valley’s lead did not last long. At the top of the second inning, Brett Schultze walked Dane Myers. Two batters later with one out, Schultze walked Jacob Amaya with Griffin Conine up to bat. Schultze was replaced by Taylor Lehman. Lehman got Conine to lineout toward right fielder Jordan Qsar for the second out with Santiago Chaves due up to bat.
Chaves hit Lehman’s fastball for a sharp line drive to center field which scored Dane Myers. The game was tied 1-1 with Jake Magnum up next.
Magnum singled on a ground ball to right field. Jordan Qsar grabbed the ball and overthrew it to catcher Rafael Marchan. Marchan had to go and retrieve the ball with Amaya and Chaves scoring which made it 3-1 Jacksonville. Meanwhile, Magnum was trying to hustle to third base but Marchan threw the ball to third baseman Drew Ellis to get Magnum out which ended the inning.
Brett Schulze finished the afternoon pitching 1.1 innings, with no hits, two runs, three walks, and two strikeouts in 40 pitches, of which 22 were strikes. Taylor Lehman faced three batters, allowing two hits, and one run in eight pitches, of which five were strikes.
Moving ahead to the top of the third inning, Noah Skirrow was the new pitcher for Lehigh Valley. With one out, Skirrow gave up a single to Xavier Edwards, with Troy Johnston up to bat. On the first pitch, Skirrow threw a curveball to Johnston and he got all of it for a two-run home run over the wall at right field. Jacksonville’s lead was now 5-1.
After giving up a single to Dane Myers, Skirrow struck out Peyton Burdick, followed by Jacob Amaya’s lineout toward right fielder Jordan Qsar for the final out of the inning.
In the bottom of the fourth inning, Jose Castillo was pitching for Jacksonville. He walked Dustin Peterson and Jordan Qsar with two outs before getting Drew Ellis to pop out toward first baseman Troy Johnston which ended the inning.
Moving ahead to the top of the sixth inning, Noah Skirrow gave up a single to Griffin Conine, followed by walking Santiago Chavez with one out. Next, he got Jake Magnum to fly out toward left fielder Simon Muzziotti for the second out.
Then, he got Garrett Hampson to ground out toward shortstop Jim Haley, who threw the ball to first baseman Darick Hall for the final out of the inning. That was it for Skirrow, who pitched four innings, allowing five hits, two runs, one walk, and five strikeouts in 77 pitches, of which 46 were strikes.
Moving to the bottom of the sixth inning, Jake Walters was pitching for Jacksonville. The IronPigs had only three hits up to that point in the game including two bunt singles. With two outs, Simon Muzziotti was up to bat. On a 3-1 count, Muzziotti hit Walters’s sinker for a solo home run over the wall at right field which made it 5-2 Jacksonville.
It was Muzziotti’s seventh home run of the season and 51st RBI of the year. The home run went 404 feet and the exit velocity was 108 mph. Dustin Peterson was next. He struck out swinging which ended the inning.
Braden Zarbnisky was the new Lehigh Valley pitcher at the top of the seventh inning. He walked Dane Myers with two outs before getting Peyton Burdick to fly out toward right fielder Jordan Qsar which ended the inning. Zarbnisky threw 15 pitches, of which nine were strikes.
Connor Brogdon was the new Lehigh Valley pitcher at the top of the eighth inning. He gave up a double to Jacob Amaya to begin the inning. Three batters later with two outs, Jake Magnum hit Brogdon’s changeup for a double to right field to score Amaya and it was now 6-2 Jacksonville. Brogdon struck out Garrett Hampson to end the inning.
In the bottom of the eighth inning, Josh Simpson was the new pitcher for Jacksonville. With one out, Kody Clemens put the ball down for a base hit to right field. Two batters later with two outs, Aramis Garcia hit Simpson’s sinker for a two-run home run over the wall at left field which made it 6-4 Jacksonville. It was Garcia’s 11th home run of the season and 34th RBI of the year.
The home run went 378 feet and the exit velocity was 94.6 mph. Simon Muzziotti was next. He flies out toward center fielder Dane Myers for the final out of the inning.
Jeremy Walker was the new Lehigh Valley pitcher at the top of the ninth inning. He gave up back-to-back singles to Troy Johnston and Dane Myers with one out for Peyton Burdick.
Burdick put the ball down for a base hit to left field to bring Johnston home for a 7-4 lead. Walker got Jacob Amaya to fly out toward right fielder Jordan Qsar and struck out Griffin Conine which ended the inning.
Lehigh Valley had one more chance in the bottom of the ninth inning. Anthony Maldonado was the new pitcher for Jacksonville. With one out, Jordan Qsar worked a four-pitch walk with Drew Ellis up to bat. Ellis flies out toward right fielder Griffin Conine for the second out and Cal Stevenson was up to bat.
Stevenson put the ball down for a base hit to shortstop Xavier Edwards. Stevenson reached first base on a throwing error by Edwards with Jim Haley up to bat. Unfortunately, Haley struck out swinging and the game was over. The IronPigs lose to the Jumbo Shrimp by the final score of 7-4 and snapped their four-game winning streak. Lehigh Valley wins four of six against Jacksonville and wins the overall series 7-5.
Lehigh Valley finished the afternoon with seven hits, went 0 for 2 with runners in scoring position, and left five men on base. Brett Schultze lost his first game of the season for Lehigh Valley. Jose Castillo won his first game for Jacksonville, and Anthony Maldonado earned his sixth save of the season.
Lehigh Valley heads to PNC Field to start a seven-game series with the Scranton/Wilkes-Barre RailRiders starting Tuesday at 6:45 pm on MiLB.com. Tickets for the game are available on StubHub and Viagogo. Also, pick up IronPigs merchandise today at Fanatics.com.
