Pigs Win Franchise-Record Ninth Straight

Great Pitching and great hitting led to the Lehigh Valley IronPigs (23-13) doubleheader sweep of the Buffalo Bisons (18-16) Sunday afternoon at Coca-Cola Park in front of 7,926 fans. 

The Pigs broke and set a franchise record with their eighth and ninth consecutive win with the doubleheader sweep of the Bisons. The previous record of seven-consecutive wins was set in 2009 (June 14-20).
Dylan Cozens and Rhys Hoskins led the way for the Pigs in game one, as the Bash Brothers both notched their ninth homers of the year in the Pigs 7-2 game one victory.
With two outs in the bottom of the first inning of game one, Hoskins launched a solo home run that landed in the Pig 'Pen, traveling 364 feet to give the Pigs a 1-0 advantage.
The Pigs added single tallies in the second and third inning to extend their lead to 3-0 after three.
In the bottom of the second, Héctor Gómez sent a sacrifice fly to center scoring Cameron Perkins who walked to lead off the frame. Hoskins then struck again as he roped an RBI single to center scoring Taylor Featherston who singled and stole second to get in scoring position for Hoskins.
After Pedro Florimón bounced into a double play, Roman Quinn singled to left, stole second and was plated on a Featherston RBI double to give the Pigs a 4-0 lead.
After Hoskins walked and with Featherston on third, Cozens unloaded on a 1-1 fastball and sent it 469 feet to center field as the ball left the ball park and landed on IronPigs way to put the Pigs on top 7-0.
Tom Eshelman pitched beautifully once again as he retired the first 11 batters he faced before issuing a walk, and did not surrender a base hit until a leadoff single by Shane Opitz in the top of the sixth inning.
Unfortunatley for Eshelman, his 14 scoreless innings streak to begin his Triple-A career was lost in the top of the seventh inning as two unearned runs scored to put the Bisons on the board.
With two outs in the top of the seventh, Dwight Smith Jr. bounced a ball between Florimon's legs and was charged with an error on the play. Raffy Lopez then singled, and back-to-back RBI singles from Ian Parmley and Opitz gave the Bisons their only two runs of the game as they were defeated 7-2 in game one.
All seven of the IronPigs runs in game one of today's doubleheader came with two outs in the inning.
The Pigs needed just one run, courtesy of a RBI single from Perkins in the bottom of the fifth inning that scored Nick Williams to give the Pigs a 1-0 victory.
Pigs game two starter Jake Thompson was spot on as the Houston native tossed five scoreless innings and surrendered just two hits and struck out four batters in route to his second win of the season.
Michael Mariot came on for the sixth inning of game two and surrendered just one hit and notched his fourth hold of the season before Pedro Beato shut the door in the top of the seventh.
Beato also gave up just a single hit in his one inning of work as he cloed a 1-0 Pigs victory and secured his International League leading ninth save.
The Pigs will now begin a seven-game road trip as they travel to Rochester, NY to take on the Red Wings for a four-game set. The Pigs starter for game one of the series had yet to be announced at time of print, and the Red Wings will send left-hander David Hurlbut (2-2, 1.59) with first pitch scheduled for 7:05 p.m. at Frontier Field.
 The 2017 Season is the IronPigs 10^th Anniversary season at Coca-Cola Park and 10^th as the top affiliate of the Philadelphia Phillies. The IronPigs are debuting the brand-new Bacon, USA, Membership Program this season -- a year-round IronPigs experience pass featuring numerous new amenities such as savings on parking at games and at the Majestic Clubhouse Store at Coca-Cola Park, on-field VIP access to watch batting practice, access to an annual holiday party, an invitation to an exclusive player and coaches photo session and more. For more information, visit ironpigsbaseball.com or call (610) 841-PIGS (7447). Memberships and group outings are on sale now.
The 2017 IronPigs baseball season is presented by Capital BlueCross.