Martin Dominant as IronPigs Down RailRiders

The Lehigh Valley IronPigs won the second game of their four-game set with the Scranton/Wilkes-Barre Railriders 4-1 behind starting pitcher Ethan Martin, who went seven innings and earned his sixth win of the season Friday night at Coca-Cola Park.

Martin (6-3) allowed just four hits in his seven innings, with the lone run coming from a solo homer off the bat of Josh Bell. He struck out six batters for the second straight start. It was the first time this year Martin allowed just one run over seven innings of work.

The IronPigs' offense helped Martin to the win with a balanced attack up and down the order. The three through eight hitters all had a hit apiece, and four different players had a run batted in.

Josh Fields gave the IronPigs (35-32) the lead with an RBI groundout in the fourth, and Cameron Rupp continued his hot start at the Triple-A level with an RBI double later in the inning. Rupp now has four hits, including two doubles, and three runs batted in over his first three games with the IronPigs.

Cody Asche extended Lehigh Valley's lead in the fifth, when he clubbed a towering home run to right field, his seventh of the year. He is now second to Cody Overbeck for the team lead in homers.

Leandro Castro also added a hit and RBI in three trips.

Phillippe Aumont earned the save for the IronPigs after working a scoreless ninth. It was his first save of the season.

Jose Ramirez (0-1), making his first start for the Railriders, was pinned with the loss after he was chased after four innings. He allowed just two runs and struck out five, but walked four and was victim of a high pitch count.

Bell provided the only punch for Scranton/Wilkes-Barre (29-36), with a solo shot in the top of the fifth off Martin. It was his third homer of the year. Zoilo Almonte, Addison Maruszak and Cody Grice each had a hit in the game as well.

The win put the IronPigs up 2-0 in the coveted 16-game IronRail Series between Lehigh Valley and Scranton/Wilkes-Barre.

Lehigh Valley will play game three of their current four game set with the Railriders tomorrow, when lefthander Raul Valdes (0-1, 4.26 ERA) takes the mound for Lehigh Valley opposite fellow southpaw David Huff (3-1, 3.73 ERA). Valdes has allowed just a run in each of his past two starts (11 innings total). First pitch is set for 6:35 p.m.