Pigs Drop Finale to Chiefs in 13, 5-4
The Lehigh Valley IronPigs (46-56) dropped the series finale to the Syracuse Chiefs (40-63) by a score of 5-4 in 13 innings on Sunday afternoon at Coca-Cola Park.
Jason Martinson's solo shot in the top of the 13th off of RHP Dalier Hinojosa proved to be the difference in the game for the Chiefs. It was Martinson's 17th home run of the season.
Hinojosa (2.0 IP, 3 H, R, ER, 3 K) was tagged with the loss for the Pigs and falls to 3-2 on the season.
RHP P.J. Walters (4.0 IP, 3 H, 8 K) earned the win for Syracuse and is now 5-3 on the year.
Syracuse grabbed an early 1-0 lead with a run in the top of the first as Tony Gwynn Jr. reached via a one-out single and later scored on Jayson Werth's RBI double.
The Pigs answered that run with one of their own in the home half of the inning as Tyler Henson (2-5, RBI, R) led off with a single, moved to second and third on a pair of wild pitches from Chiefs starter Bruce Billings and scored on Cord Phelps' RBI double to tie things at one apiece.
In the home half of the second, KC Serna (2-6, R) got on base with a one-out single, went to second on a sac bunt and scored on Henson's RBI single to open up a 2-1 lead for the IronPigs.
A pair of runs in the third gave the Chiefs a 3-2 lead as Jayson Werth plated a run with a sac fly and Mario Lisson came through with an RBI single.
Pigs starter Jason Berken (n/d) gave up the three runs on five hits while walking two and fanning three over five innings of work.
Syracuse starter Bruce Billings (n/d) allowed a pair of runs on five hits to go along with two walks and three strikeouts in 6.0 IP.
Lisson's solo shot in the top of the sixth off of RHP Seth Rosin (2.0 IP, 2 H, R, ER, 2 K) extended the Syracuse lead to 4-2. It was Lisson's second home run of the season.
Aaron Altherr's two-out, two-run single in the home half of the seventh tied things at four apiece for the Pigs. A successfully executed double steal from Chase d'Arnaud and Brian Bogusevic set the table for Altherr with a pair of runners in scoring position.
RHP Nefi Ogando (1.0 IP, K), LHP Adam Loewen (1.0 IP, H) and RHP Juan Gutierrez (2.0 IP, H, BB) all had scoreless outings in relief for manager Dave Brundage's squad.
The Pigs will begin a brief two-game set at Scranton/Wilkes-Barre on Monday night. First pitch from PNC Field is set for 7:05 p.m. as LHP Anthony Vasquez (6-3, 4.06) gets the ball for the IronPigs against RailRiders RHP Esmil Rogers (1-0, 3.38).