The Lehigh Valley IronPigs (65-72) and the Scranton/Wilkes-Barre RailRiders (81-59) played game four on Thursday night from PNC Field. Lehigh Valley pitcher Robinson Pina (1-3, 4.74 ERA) was on the mound against Scranton/Wilkes-Barre’s Will Warren (5-5, 6.32 ERA).
At the top of the third inning, Lehigh Valley had a runner on third base with one out when third baseman Otto Kemp hit an RBI groundout to shortstop Oswald Peraza scoring Matt Kroon for a 1-0 lead. It was his first RBI of the season. A pop-out by first baseman Darick Hall ended the inning.
In the bottom of the fourth inning, Scranton/Wilkes-Barre had runners on first and second base when designated hitter T.J. Rumfield hit Pina’s slider for a three-run home run over the wall at right field for a 3-1 lead. Scranton/Wilkes-Barre did not add any more runs in the inning. Pina (5.0 IP, 3 H, 3 R, 3 ER, 2 BB, 6 K) threw 89 pitches, of which 46 were strikes.
Jonah Dipoto was the new pitcher for Lehigh Valley in the bottom of the sixth inning. Dipoto (1.0 IP, 1 BB, 1 K) threw 23 pitches, of which 12 were strikes to get three outs. Nick Nelson was the new pitcher for Lehigh Valley in the bottom of the seventh inning. Nelson (1.0 IP, 1 H) threw 14 pitches, of which eight were strikes to get three outs.
Tyler McKay was the new pitcher for Lehigh Valley in the bottom of the eighth inning. McKay (1.0 IP, 1 BB) threw 12 pitches, of which five were strikes to get three outs.
At the top of the ninth inning, Lehigh Valley center field Ryan McKenna was hit by Ron Marinaccio. Next, designated hitter David Dahl flies out to left field Jahmai Jones for the first out. Then, Lehigh Valley catcher Jared Thomas hit a base hit moving McKenna to second base.
Lehigh Valley right fielder Carlos De La Cruz grounded into a forceout at second base for the second out with McKenna at third base. Lehigh Valley Trevor Schwecke was next to bat. He struck out swinging and the game was over. The IronPigs lost to the RailRiders 3-1. The series is even at two apiece.
Lehigh Valley finished the night with five hits. The loss went to Lehigh Valley starter Robinson Pina for his fourth loss of the season. The win went to Scranton/Wilkes-Barre starter Will Warren and Ron Marinaccio earned his seventh save of the season.
The IronPigs and RailRiders play game five on Friday at 6:35 pm on MiLB.TV. Purchase IronPigs tickets for the 2024 season today on StubHub and Viagogo.
