The Lehigh Valley IronPigs (16-25) and the Norfolk Tides (22-22) played game five of a six-game series on Saturday night from Harbor Park Stadium. Lehigh Valley pitcher Ricardo Pinto (0-0, 0.00 ERA) was on the mound against Norfolk’s Cade Povich (4-1, 2.16 ERA).
At the top of the first inning, Lehigh Valley had a runner on third base when third baseman Weston Wilson hit a ground ball toward shortstop Jackson Holliday scoring Scott Kingery for a 1-0 lead. Matt Kroon struck out swinging which ended the inning.
At the top of the second inning, Lehigh Valley had a runner on third base as center fielder Cal Stevenson brought Aramis Garcia home with a sacrifice fly to center field for a 2-0 lead.
In the bottom of the second inning, Norfolk had a runner on second base when center fielder Daniel Johnson hit an RBI double to right field scoring Terrin Vavra cutting the IronPigs lead down to 2-1. Then, Norfolk catcher Michael Perez hit Pinto’s sinker for an RBI single to center field scoring Johnson which tied the game 2-2.
Moving to the bottom of the third inning, Lehigh Valley pitcher Ricardo Pinto committed two errors allowing Heston Kjerstad to go from first base to third base. Next, Norfolk left fielder Billy Cook brought Kjerstad home with a sacrifice fly to left field to take a 3-2 lead.
Two batters later, Norfolk second baseman Terrin Vavra hit an RBI double to left field scoring Nick Maton for a 4-2 lead. Then, center field Daniel Johnson hit an RBI double to right field scoring Vavra for a 5-2 lead. Norfolk catcher Michael Perez was next. He hit an RBI double to right field scoring Johnson for a 6-2 lead. Lehigh Valley pitcher Ricardo Pinto pitched 2.2 innings, allowing 8 hits, 6 runs, and two walks throwing 57 pitches, of which 29 were strikes.
Norfolk continued to pile on the runs in the bottom of the fourth inning. Tyler Gilbert was the new pitcher for Lehigh Valley. With a runner on first base, Norfolk right fielder Connor Norby hit Gilbert’s cutter for an RBI double to left field scoring Jackson Holliday for a 7-2 lead. Next, Heston Kjerstad hit the ball toward second baseman Jim Haley but a fielding error by Haley scored Connor Norby for an 8-2 lead.
Then, with Nick Maton up to bat, Billy Cook got picked off at second base for the out but Heston Kjerstad scored for a 9-2 lead. Four batters later, Michael Perez hit an RBI single to left field scoring Terrin Vavra and it was now 10-2.
Griff McGarry was the new pitcher for Lehigh Valley in the bottom of the fifth inning. He walked two batters plus a pass ball by catcher Aramis Garcia allowed Heston Kjerstad to bring Jackson Holliday home with a sacrifice fly which made it 11-2.
Beau Burrows pitched for Lehigh Valley in the bottom of the sixth inning. With a runner on first base, Norfolk right fielder Connor Norby hit the ball toward left fielder Matt Kroon. However, a fielding error by Kroon allowed Jackson Holliday to score for a 12-2 lead.
Lehigh Valley began to make a comeback at the top of the eighth inning with Kaleb Ort pitching for Norfolk. The IronPigs had runners on the corners when first baseman Nick Podkul hit an RBI single to center field scoring Jim Haley making it 12-3 Norfolk. Two batters later with the bases loaded, shortstop Scott Kingery worked a four-pitch walk scoring Cal Stevenson which made it 12-4.
Two batters later with two outs, Lehigh Valley third baseman Weston Wilson hit Ort’s fastball for a two-run single to left field scoring Cody Roberts and Scott Kingery and now it was 12-6. Matt Kroon struck out swinging ending the inning.
Nolan Hoffman was the new pitcher for Norfolk at the top of the eighth inning. Hoffman loaded the bases with first baseman Nick Podkul up to bat. Podkul worked a four-pitch walk and coming in to score was Jim Haley which made it 12-7. Lehigh Valley designated hitter Cody Roberts was up to bat. He hit a two-run single to right field scoring Aramis Garcia and Cal Stevenson and it was now 12-9. A fielding error was charged to Norfolk first baseman Shayne Fontana.
Lehigh Valley shortstop Scott Kingery was up next. He hit Hoffman’s curveball for an RBI single to center field scoring Nick Podkul and it was now a two-run game 12-10. Wandisson Charles replaced Nolan Hoffman.
Two batters later with one out, Lehigh Valley third baseman Weston Wilson brought Cody Roberts home with a sacrifice fly to left field and it was a one-run game 12-11. Matt Kroon and Jim Haley both struck out to end the inning.
Andrew Bellatti was the new pitcher for Lehigh Valley in the bottom of the eighth inning. He loaded the bases with one out and Heston Kjerstad up to bat. Kjerstad hit Bellatti’s fastball for a sacrifice fly to left fielder Matt Kroon scoring Errol Robinson for a 13-11 lead. Bellatti struck out Billy Cook to end the inning.
Bryan Baker was the new pitcher for Norfolk at the top of the ninth inning. With one out, Cal Stevenson worked a four-pitch walk but a flyout by David Dahl and a strikeout from Esteban Quiroz ended the game. The IronPigs lose to the Tides by the final score of 13-11.
Lehigh Valley finished the game with 10 hits but committed six errors. The loss went to Lehigh Valley pitcher Ricardo Pinto for his first loss of the season. The win went to Norfolk pitcher Cade Povich (6.0 IP, 4 H, 2 R, 8 K), and Norfolk pitcher Bryan Baker earned his second save of the season.
The IronPigs and Tides concluded the six-game series on Sunday at 1:05 pm on MiLB.TV. Purchase IronPigs tickets for the 2024 season today on StubHub and Viagogo. Also, pick up IronPigs merchandise today at Fanatics and Rally House.
