The Lehigh Valley IronPigs (65-59, 29-22) and the Scranton/Wilkes-Barre RailRiders (63-61, 29-21) met for the final time of the season on Sunday afternoon from PNC Field. The IronPigs have already lost the series with the RailRiders winning five of six games before today.
Michael Plassmeyer (1-4, 695 ERA) was on the mound for Lehigh Valley making his 11th start in 12 games played this year. This was his first start since May 30th against the RailRiders. Clayton Beeter (1-4, 5.85 ERA) was on the mound for Scranton/Wilkes-Barre.
The game was scoreless in the first two innings until the top of the third inning. Cal Stevenson hit Clayton Beeter’s fastball for a solo home run over the wall at center field to put the IronPigs up 1-0. It was Stevenson’s seventh home run of the season and 22nd RBI of the year.
The home run went 403 feet with an exit velocity of 102.3 mph. Scott Kingery struck out, and both Kody Clemens and Weston Wilson grounded out which ended the inning.
Moving ahead to the bottom of the fourth inning, Michael Plassmeyer got Andres Chaparro to pop out toward third baseman Drew Ellis for the first out. Next, Carlos Narvaez flew out toward right fielder Weston Wilson before Plassmeyer struck out Franchy Cordero which ended the inning.
That was it for Plassmeyer. He pitched four innings, allowing two hits, one walk, and four strikeouts in 56 pitches, of which 38 were strikes.
Tyler McKay pitched for Lehigh Valley in the bottom of the fifth inning. He got Jamie Westbrook to ground out toward shortstop Scott Kingery, who threw the ball to first baseman Darick Hall for the first out. Next, Brandon Lockridge flew out toward right fielder Weston Wilson before McKay struck out Jesus Bastidas to end the inning.
Jeremy Walker was the new pitcher for Lehigh Valley in the bottom of the sixth inning. He walked Jasson Dominguez with one out for Austin Wells. Wells hit Walker’s sinker for a two-run home run into the RailRiders’ bullpen at left field for a 2-1 lead. The home run went 345 feet with an exit velocity of 100.2 mph.
Then, Walker struck out Andres Chaparro and Carlos Narvaez which ended the inning. That was it for Walker. He pitched one inning, allowing one hit, two runs, one walk, and two strikeouts in 21 pitches, of which 13 were strikes.
The game got worse for Lehigh Valley in the bottom of the seventh inning. Luis Ortiz was the new pitcher for Lehigh Valley. Ortiz hit Franchy Cordero on the foot to begin the inning with Jamie Westbrook next. Westbrook hit the ball toward second baseman Esteban Quiroz. Quiroz was unable to get control of the ball and everyone was safe.
Quiroz was charged with a fielding error. Next, Brandon Lockridge moved both runners up a base with a sacrifice bunt for the first out. Jesus Bastidas was next. He put the ball down for a base hit to center field with Cordero scoring which made it 3-1 RailRiders.
Then, Estevan Florial hit a high fly ball out of the reach of left fielder Simon Muzziotti which brought Jamie Westbrook home for a 4-1 lead with Jasson Dominguez up to bat. Dominguez hit Ortiz’s slider for a two-run triple to right field. It was now 6-1 RailRiders.
Austin Wells was next. He hit a high fly ball toward Simon Muzziotti, who made the catch before throwing the ball to catcher Aramis Garcia to get Dominguez out at home plate for an inning-ending double play. That was it for Ortiz. He pitched one inning, allowing three hits, and four runs in 17 pitches, of which 13 were strikes.
Ben Bowden was the new Lehigh Valley pitcher in the bottom of the eighth inning. He got back-to-back flyouts from Andres Chaparro and Carlos Narvaez before striking out Franchy Cordero to end the inning. He threw 17 pitches, of which eight were strikes.
Lehigh Valley had one more chance at the top of the ninth inning. They had to face Ron Marinaccio. Marinaccio walked Drew Ellis to start the inning. Next, he walked Simon Muzziotti with Aramis Garcia up to bat. With the count 0-2, Garica hit Marinaccio’s fastball for a three-run home deep to left field that cut the RailRiders lead to 6-4.
It was Garcia’s 12th home run of the season and 37th RBI of the year. The home run went 418 feet with an exit velocity of 103.8 mph. Two batters later, Cal Stevenson put the ball down for a base hit to right field, followed by Marinaccio walking Scott Kingery. The RailRiders changed pitchers with Greg Weissert replacing Marinaccio.
Kody Clemens was the first to face Weissert but he struck out and Weston Wilson was the IronPigs’ last hope. With the count 3-2, Wilson chased Weissert’s fastball outside the zone for the final out of the game. The IronPigs lost to the RailRiders by the final score of 6-4.
Lehigh Valley loses the series 6-1 and the overall series 9-15. The IronRail returns to Scranton/Wilkes-Barre. Lehigh Valley have now lost four straight and are 4-6 in their last ten games. The IronPigs are now sitting in fourth place in the second-half standings with one month left of the regular season.
Lehigh Valley finished the afternoon with four hits, committed one error, went 1 for 6 with runners in scoring position, and left seven men on base. Jeremy Walker lost his second game of the season for Lehigh Valley, while Nick Ramirez won his first game for the RailRiders, and Greg Weissert earned his tenth save of the season.
The IronPigs return to Coca-Cola Park on Tuesday to begin a six-game series against the Syracuse Mets 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.
