IronPigs Win Second Straight in Offensive Battle

PAWTUCKET, RI - In a game that featured 21 hits and 14 total runs, the Lehigh Valley IronPigs won their second straight game, an 8-6 decision over the Pawtucket Red Sox Tuesday afternoon at McCoy Stadium.

The IronPigs (6-5) propelled themselves over the .500 mark for the first time in 2013 behind the long ball, as Leandro Castro and Tommy Joseph each cracked three-run home runs while Cody Overbeck launched a solo homer of his own.

Both starting pitchers struggled, as the PawSox led 2-0 after two innings, scoring a pair in the second inning when Lehigh Valley starter Jonathan Pettibone walked two and hit a batter in the frame. However, the visitors jumped back with a trio of runs in the third when Castro hit his first homer of the season with two men aboard to put the 'Pigs on top 3-2.

Then in the fourth with two men on and one out, Joseph hit his second dinger of the season to left for a 6-2 lead. Pawtucket answered in the bottom half of the frame though, with a pair of runs to cut the deficit in half to 6-4.

The see-saw battle continued in the fifth inning when Castro scored on an error to increase the lead to 7-4, but again the home side fought back with two runs in the bottom half behind two RBI singles to make the score 7-6 in favor of the IronPigs through five full innings.

Overbeck provided the final fireworks of the game in the sixth when he hit his second homer of the year, a solo shot to right-center field for an 8-6 advantage.

Jake Diekman (1-0) earned the win with 1 1/3 innings of scoreless baseball. Mike Stutes picked up his first save of 2013 with a perfect ninth, becoming the third member of the IronPigs bullpen to garner a stat in that category. Pettibone went four innings, allowing four runs on seven hits.

For the PawSox (9-3) Chris Hernandez (0-1) suffered the loss, surrendering seven runs (three earned) on six hits in five innings of work.

Four IronPigs finished with a multi-hit game as Castro, Overbeck, Cesar Hernandez and Tyson Gillies all recorded two hits.

With the win, the IronPigs guaranteed themselves a winning road trip after going 2-1 against the Syracuse Chiefs and taking the first two games of this four-game series with Pawtucket before returning home on Friday. The Red Sox hold on to their perfect record against teams not named Lehigh Valley, as all three of their losses have come at the hands of the IronPigs.

Game three of the series begins at 6:15 p.m. tomorrow evening from McCoy Stadium. LHP Cesar Jimenez (0-0, 0.00) makes his first start of the season for Lehigh Valley opposite right-hander Terry Doyle (1-0, 0.79) for Pawtucket.