Shutout Loss Ends IronPigs Season
ALLENTOWN, PA - The Lehigh Valley IronPigs saw their season come to a close Monday afternoon, as they fell to the Pawtucket Red Sox 4-0 at Coca-Cola Park.
Lehigh Valley (72-72), which finished with a .500 record or better for the third straight season, was shut out for the second straight game and fell for the fifth time in their final six games. Their two hits tied for the second-fewest this season as they were blanked for the 12th time in 2013, falling one shy of the single-season record set in 2012.
Pawtucket (80-63), which won 19 of its last 23 contests, scored the game's first run in the fourth inning when Alex Hassan drove in Jackie Bradley Jr. on a sacrifice fly. In the fifth the lead doubled when Bradley Jr. singled with two outs to score Drew Sutton.
The visitor's offense continued to methodically plate runs, as in the sixth Sutton singled to score Hassan, before the contest's final run came home in the seventh on a bloop single by Jonathan Diaz down the right-field line for a 4-0 ballgame.
Reliever Alex Wilson (3-1) earned the win, tossing a scoreless fifth inning on a day where Pawtucket used five pitchers. Southpaw Greg Smith (8-4) suffered the loss, allowing four runs on 10 hits over seven frames. Justin Friend and Phillippe Aumont each worked a scoreless frame, while Leandro Castro and Tyler Henson tallied a hit apiece for Lehigh Valley.
Pawtucket, winners of the North Division, will travel to Rochester in the first round of the Governor's Cup playoffs, while Indianapolis and Durham will square off in the other first round matchup. The winner of the International League will play the winner of the Pacific Coast League in the 2013 Gildan Triple-A National Championship Game, held at Coca-Cola Park on September 17th at 7:05 p.m. Tickets are available at ironpigsbaseball.com or by calling (610)841-7447.