Three-Run Ninth Pushes Pigs To Series Sweep

A three-run top of the ninth inning gave the IronPigs (29-14) a 3-2 victory and a series sweep over the Syracuse Chiefs (13-26) Sunday afternoon at NBT Bank Stadium.

Nick Williams led off the top of the ninth with his second home run in as many days to tie the game at 1-1 and kick started a Pigs three-run rally.
After a Cameron Perkins walk, Taylor Featherston then launched his first home run of the season to left-center to give the Pigs a 3-1 lead.
Pat Venditte then came on to pitch the bottom of the ninth inning to preserve the 3-1 lead. After Grant Green grounded out to J.P. Crawford, Caleb Ramsey singled to right to try to start a Chiefs rally.
Clint Robinson then singled to put runners at first and second for Rafael Bautista. Bautista then popped out to first base and the Chiefs were down to their final out. Irving Falu then ended Venditte's scoreless innings streak at 22 innings as Falu laced an RBI to right-center field to cut the Pigs lead to 3-2. Falu appeared to have been tagged as he over ran first base and attempted to go to second base but the umpire ruled that he slid back into first safely.
Venditte then struck out Adrían Sanchez to end the game, preserving the Pigs 3-2 win and Venditte earned his first save of the season.
The game was scoreless through nearly eight innings before the Chiefs plated a run in the bottom of the eighth inning. With two outs in the frame, Brandon Snyder doubled to center to put the go-ahead run in scoring position for the Chiefs. Pedro Severino then broke the scoreless tie as he roped a RBI single to center that scored Snyder to give the Chiefs a 1-0 lead.
Pigs starter Ben Lively was spot on, however not factoring into the decision as he tossed six scoreless innings, scattering just three hits while walking three and striking out three.
Michael Mariot relieved Lively in the seventh inning and picked up his first win of the season thanks to the Pigs three-run ninth inning. Mariot surrendered the run in the bottom of the eighth inning as he also tossed two innings and struck out three.
Lehigh Valley has now won 15 of their last 16 games, and are now at a season-high water mark of 15 games above .500, the highest mark since the Pigs ended the 2016 season at 27 games over .500.
The Pigs will now have an off day on Monday before returning to action at Coca-Cola Park Tuesday night at 7:05 p.m. against the Indianapolis Indians.
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.