The Lehigh Valley IronPigs (65-56, 24-19) and the Scranton/Wilkes-Barre RailRiders (60-61, 26-21) played game four on Friday night from PNC Field. The IronPigs trailed the series 1-2 and the overall series 9-11.
Last night, the IronPigs and RailRiders were postponed due to unplayable conditions as a heavy rain storm moved into the area earlier in the day. The RailRiders announced last night’s game would be made up as a single-admission doubleheader on Saturday.
There were several transactions before the game. Last night, the Philadelphia Phillies acquired outfielder Brewer Hicklen from the Kansas City Royals for cash considerations and optioned him to Lehigh Valley. Hicklen was in the lineup playing left field.
In addition, the Phillies released RHP Max Kuhns and outfielder Jordan Qsar, and LHP Damon Jones has been added to the IronPigs roster.
Tyler Phillips (0-1, 3.27 ERA) was on the mound for Lehigh Valley making his fifth start of the season against Scranton/Wilkes-Barre’s Edgar Barclay (0-2, 8.04 ERA).
At the top of the first inning, Weston Wilson reached first base on a throwing error by third baseman Jake Lamb. Two batters later with one out, Dustin Peterson hit Barclay’s changeup for a two-run opposite-field home run onto the berm at right field. Lehigh Valley led 2-0.
It was Peterson’s 16th home run of the season and his 41st RBI of the year. The home run went 372 feet and the exit velocity was 101.2 mph. Darick Hall was next but he popped out and Brewer Hicklen lined out toward third baseman Jake Lamb for the final out of the inning.
In the bottom of the first inning, Tyler Phillips got Estevan Florial to ground out toward second baseman Jim Haley, who made the throw to first baseman Darick Hall for the first out.
Jasson Dominguez was next. He put the ball down for a base hit to left fielder Brewer Hicklen with Austin Wells up to bat. Wells hit the ball toward second baseman Jim Haley for a 4-3 inning-ending double play.
Moving ahead to the bottom of the second inning, the game unraveled for Lehigh Valley. Andres Chaparro started the inning hitting a single to center field with Franchy Cordero up to bat. Tyler Phillips walked Cordero with Carlos Narvaez next to bat.
Narvaez hit the ball toward third baseman Drew Ellis. Ellis turned to throw the ball toward second baseman Jim Haley but it was out of his reach and the ball rolled into right field allowing Chaparro to score. It was now 2-1 Lehigh Valley.
Jake Lamb was next for the RailRiders. He put the ball down for a base hit to center field with Franchy Cordero rounding third base to score. The game was tied 2-2. Two batters later with one out, Wilmer Difo was up to bat. He grounded the ball off Phillips’s glove and into the direction of Jim Haley. Haley picked up the ball before throwing it to Darick Hall but pulled Hall off the first base bag and Difo was safe while Narvaez scored to put the RailRiders up 3-2.
Next, Estevan Florial reached first base on a throwing error by second baseman Jim Haley with Jasson Dominguez up to bat. He singled on a ground ball to left field which brought Jake Lamb home for a 4-2 lead. Austin Wells was next.
During his at-bat, Dominguez took off to steal second base with Rafael Marchan throwing the ball wide to shortstop Weston Wilson and Estevan Florial scored to make it 5-2. Then, Phillips walked Wells which led to a pitching change. Jeremy Walker replaced him and he faced Andres Chaparro. On a 2-2 count, Walker got Chaparro to chase his curveball to strike him out which ended the inning.
Tyler Phillips finished the night pitching 1.2 innings, allowing five hits, five runs, two earned runs, two walks, and one strikeout in 51 pitches, of which 26 were strikes.
Walker pitched one more inning. He pitched 1.1 innings, allowing two hits, and two strikeouts in 24 pitches, of which 17 were strikes, and Brett Schultze pitched two innings with three walks, and two strikeouts in 37 pitches, of which 18 were strikes.
Moving ahead to the top of the fifth inning, Lehigh Valley battled back. Aramis Garcia started the inning by working a four-pitch walk with Dustin Peterson up to bat.
Peterson hit Barclay’s fastball for a two-run home run into the RailRiders’ bullpen at left field which made it 5-4 RailRiders. It was Peterson’s second home run of the night. He now has 17 home runs and 43 RBIs for the year.
The home run went 353 feet with an exit velocity of 96.8 mph. Darick Hall was next. With the count 1-1, Hall smashed Barclay’s curveball for a solo home run into the seats at right field that tied the game 5-5.
It was Hall’s 13th home run of the season and 41st RBI of the year. The home run went 375 feet with an exit velocity of 107 mph. Lehigh Valley did not add any more runs in the inning.
Ben Bowden pitched the bottom of the sixth inning. He struck out two batters throwing 12 pitches, of which seven were strikes. Taylor Lehman pitched the bottom of the seventh inning. He struck out two batters, throwing ten pitches, of which six were strikes, and Yunior Marte pitched the bottom of the eighth inning throwing 15 pitches to get three outs, of which nine were strikes.
Moving ahead to the bottom of the ninth inning, Lehigh Valley attempted to get the game into extra innings. Tyler McKay was the new pitcher for Lehigh Valley. With one out, McKay walked Estevan Florial. Two batters later, McKay walked Jasson Dominguez, followed by hitting Austin Wells which loaded the bases for Franchy Cordero.
Cordero hit McKay’s changeup for the game-winning RBI single to right field with Estevan Florial scoring to end the game. The IronPigs lost to the RailRiders by the final score of 6-5.
Lehigh Valley finished the night with five hits, committed three errors, went 0 for 6 with runners in scoring position, and left ten men on base. Tyler McKay lost his third game of the season for Lehigh Valley, while Greg Weissert won his fifth game of the year for the RailRiders.
The IronPigs and RailRiders will play a doubleheader on Saturday. The first game starts at 3:35 pm, followed by game two taking place 30 to 45 minutes later. Tickets for the game are available on StubHub and Viagogo. Also, pick up IronPigs merchandise today at Fanatics.com.
