Cozens Two-Run Homer Ignites Pigs, Win 4-3

Dylan Cozens hit his 26^th home run of the season, tying Andy Tracy for second place on the Pigs all-time single-season home run list , and Scott Kingery extended his hitting streak to 23 games, as the IronPigs (73-58) defeated the Pawtucket Red Sox (62-70) at McCoy Stadium Friday night.

After taking a 4-3 lead in the top of the seventh inning, Pigs reliever Ricardo Pinto worked out of a lead-off double from Matt Dominguez and a wild pitch allowed Dominguez to advance to third. Pinto then struck out Sam Travis, and induced two-consecutive ground ball outs to Scott Kingery to preserve the lead. For Pinto, escaping the threat increased his scoreless innings streak to 19 2/3 innings.
Pinto came back out to toss the eighth inning for the Pigs, retiring the side in order to extend his scoreless streak to 20 2/3 innings.
The Pigs scored a pair of runs in the top of the seventh inning to take their 4-3 lead. Cozens led off the frame with a walk, and was followed by a double to right-center field by Andrew Pullin. Logan Moore tied the game with a sacrifice fly to left field, scoring Cozens to make it 3-3.
Scott Kingery was then intentionally walked, and J.P. Crawford was walked to load the bases for Cameron Perkins. Perkins would walk on four-consecutive pitches to give the Pigs a 4-3 advantage.
In the top of the ninth, with Kingery's 22-game hitting streak in jeapordy and two outs in the frame, Kingery dropped in a base hit down the right field line just out of the reach of former IronPig Brian Bougusevic. With the hit, the 23-year old extended his franchise-record hitting streak to 23 games.
Pedro Beato was called upon to close out the game for the Pigs in the bottom of the ninth. He did just that, as the Pigs closer struck out the first two batters of the inning before surrendering a base hit to Matt Dominguez. Sam Travis then grounded out to shortstop Angelo Mora to preserve the Pigs 4-3 victory.
Pigs starter Henderson Alvarez III made quick work of the first two batters he saw before loading the bases for Deven Marrero. After retiring Tzu-Wei Lin and Ryan Court, Alvarez surrendered back-to-back singles to former IronPig Brian Bougusevic and Matt Dominguez.
The right-hander then walked Sam Travis to load the bases for Marrero who bounced out to shortstop for a fielder's choice as Angelo Mora flipped over to J.P. Crawford for the final out of the opening frame.
However, Alvarez did not have such luck in the bottom of the second as the Paw Sox tallied a three-run frame to jump out to a 3-0 lead.
Jantzen Witte led off the frame with a walk, and came around to score on an RBI single to right field by Jake Romanski whose base hit got by Herlis Rodriguez and trickled to the right field wall allowing Witter to score and Romanski to advance to third. Tzu-Wei Lin then scored Romanski with an RBI single of his own to give the Paw Sox a 2-0 lead. Ryan Court would score to end the three-run inning as Matt Dominguez scored Ryan Court on an error by Angelo Mora.
After not hitting a home run since July 22, Cozens homered for the third time in two days after hitting a pair of homers Thursday night. The 23-year-old launched a two-run laser to right-center field scoring Mora to bring the Pigs within a run as they trailed 3-2 in the fifth inning.   
With the Pigs win, it is their first time the Pigs have won back-to-back games since August 1 and 2.
The three-game series continues Saturday night with the Pawtucket Red Sox at McCoy Stadium. The Pigs will send right-hander Tom Eshelman (8-3, 2.52), and the Red Sox will send left-hander Brain Johnson (3-2, 2.79). First pitch is scheduled for 6:15 p.m.
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.