Crawford's Inside-The-Park Slam Lifts Pigs To 8-2 Win

Rhys Hoskins hit his International League leading 24^th home run, and J.P. Crawford hit your run-of-the-mill inside-the-park grand slam as the IronPigs (64-40) picked up a 5-1 victory over the Gwinnett Braves (50-52) Wednesday night at Coca Cola Park before 8,076 fans. 

Brock Stassi led off the bottom of the fifth inning by walking and was followed by a double down the right field line from Andrew Pullin to give the Pigs two runners in scoring position. Mark Leiter Jr. then grounded into a fielder's choice, as Stassi was thrown out at home. Kris Medlen then hit Pigs second baseman Scott Kingery with a pitch to load the bases for Crawford.
Crawford then laced a line drive to right-center field, and kept running as all three runners would score. Crawford rounded third and headed home as the relay throw came into the infield. The ball would beat Crawford to the plate, however, Braves catcher David Freitas missed the tag at the plate giving Crawford an inside-the-park grand slam.
It is the second inside-the-park home run in franchise history, the firs being Javon Moran on May 29, 2008 and the first inside-the-park grand slam in the franchise's history.
The Pigs took an early 1-0 lead in the bottom of the first inning, as Hoskins launched his league leading 24^th home run. The home run now places Hoskins second on the Pigs all-time single-season list trailing just Andy Tracy who had 26 in 2010.
The G-Braves broke through in the top of the fifth inning as Carlos Franco hit a solo home run to straight away center field to tie the game at 1 before Crawford's inside-the-park grand slam in the bottom of the frame.
Kingery singled in the top of the seventh inning to extend his hitting streak to tie a team season-high 12-game hitting streak. After a Crawford walk, Hoskins would strike again in the bottom of the seventh inning with a two-run double down the left field line, extending the Pigs lead to 7-1 at the time. Two batters later Jorge Alfaro sent a sacrifice fly to right to score Crawford to cap of the Pigs three-run frame, to give the Pigs an 8-1 advantage.
Gwinnett would add a late run in the top of the eighth inning, as Dustin Peterson scored on a passed ball with Ozzie Albies batting.
Pigs starter Mark Leiter picked up his second win of the season for the Pigs as he tossed six innings, allowing just one run on two hits while striking out four batters.
The series concludes with game four of the series Thursday night against the Gwinnet Braves. The Pigs will send left-hander Brandon Leibrandt (4-0,1.61) and the G-Braves will send right-hander Lucas Sims (7-4, 3.75). First pitch is scheduled for 7:05 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.