Pigs Fall in 15 Innings, 4-3
The Lehigh Valley IronPigs lost on a walk-off for the second straight game as they fell to the Scranton/Wilkes-Barre RailRiders by a score of 4-3 in 15 innings Monday night. The Pigs have now dropped five in a row and sit at 3-9 on the season while the RailRiders are now at .500 with a record of 6-6.
Nick Noonan was the hero for Scranton/Wilkes-Barre as he delivered a walk-off RBI single to left-that scored Ben Gamel-with two men in scoring position and one away in the 15th. LHP Adam Loewen (0-1) was charged with the loss as he gave up one run on two hits with five walks and a strikeout over 2.1 innings of work for the Pigs. Loewen had issued walks to the first two batters of the inning before they each moved into scoring position with a sacrifice bunt laid down by Jonathan Galvez.
The IronPigs were able to take their first lead of the night at 1-0 in the top of the third as Brian Bogusevic and Cord Phelps delivered back-to-back one out singles. During Phelps' at-bat, Bogusevic moved to second on a wild pitch and then to third on the single before Domonic Brown (1-5, BB, RBI, R) brought him home with a sac fly to right.
However, the RailRiders were able to bounce right back in the home half of the third as Kyle Roller deposited his first home run of the season over the right field fence to give the hosts a 2-1 lead for the time being.
Jason Berken made his first start of the season for the Pigs and turned in a very solid effort as the Clemson University product tossed five innings and allowed two runs on four hits with a pair of walks and six strikeouts. The right-hander received a no-decision however for his efforts.
Scranton/Wilkes-Barre was able to put runners on the corners with two outs in the sixth, but a nifty spin and throw by Pigs 3B Maikel Franco nailed Austin Romine at first to end the inning.
Lehigh Valley took the lead temporarily in the top of the sixth with a pair of runs to give themselves a 3-2 lead. After Tommy Joseph had drawn a bases-loaded walk to tie the game, Chris McGuiness was responsible for driving in what was the go-ahead run at the time with an RBI groundout to first that plated Russ Canzler.
Scranton/Wilkes-Barre starter Jaron Long (n/d, 5.1 IP, 6 H, 3 R, 3 ER, 3 BB, 4 K) departed with the bases loaded and one out in the inning with the score still sitting at 2-1 RailRiders, but reliever Diego Moreno (1.2 IP, BB, K) allowed two of the inherited runners to score.
An inning later, the RailRiders put two runners in scoring position with one away against Pigs reliever Phillippe Aumont (4.0 IP, H, R, ER, 4 BB, 2 K, 3 WP) and Ramon Flores brought home the tying run with an RBI grounder to first.
With things still deadlocked at three apiece in the home half of the tenth, Lehigh Valley RHP Hector Neris (3.0 IP, 4 H, 4 K) was able to get out of a huge jam with runners at the corners and one away. The RailRiders' Tyler Austin grounded into a fielder's choice and Franco gunned down the runner Flores at home. Neris was then able to get Gamel to ground into a force out to end the threat.
Neris was able to wiggle out of another RailRiders threat in the 12th when they put runners at first and second with one away before the right-hander got a groundout and a strikeout to get out of the jam.
RHP Danny Burawa (1-0) earned the win for Scranton/Wilkes-Barre as he tossed a scoreless top of the 15th.
Franco (0-5, BB) had his nine-game hitting streak snapped. However, Bogusevic (1-6, BB, R) extended his current hitting streak to eight games.
The two teams will be right back at it tomorrow at 6:35 p.m. from PNC Field as RHP Severino Gonzalez (0-1, 4.63) gets the ball for the IronPigs while LHP Eric Wooten (0-1, 4.70) takes the mound for the RailRiders.