The Lehigh Valley IronPigs (20-25) were back at Coca-Cola Park for game four Friday night versus the Scranton/Wilkes-Barre RailRiders (30-12). The IronPigs were blown out by the RailRiders 10-2 Thursday night.
The starting pitchers for the game were Mark Appel (0-0, 0.00) of Lehigh Valley versus Deivi Garcia (1-2, 7.81) of Scranton/Wilkes-Barre. For Appel, this was his first start for Lehigh Valley since 2017. The former first-overall pick in 2013 is attempting a comeback after being away from baseball for three years. He started the season in Reading and was 0-1 with a 5.84 ERA and 24 strikeouts. Appel was acquired in the Ken Giles trade in 2015.
Lehigh Valley struck first in the bottom of the first inning. With runners on second and third with one out, first baseman Darick Hall brought home a run on a sacrifice fly for a 1-0 lead.
Moving to the bottom of the second inning with a runner on second and one out, IronPigs catcher Edgar Cabral tripled to center field, scoring a run that extended Lehigh Valley’s lead 2-0.
Then, Lehigh Valley shortstop Dalton Guthrie hit a two-run home run over the left-center field wall for a 4-0 lead. Two batters later, IronPigs center fielder Charlie Tilson scored another run for a 5-0 lead.
In the bottom of the third inning, with two outs and runners on first and third, Lehigh Valley shortstop Dalton Guthrie singled to center field, scoring another run for a 6-0 lead. It was Guthrie’s third RBI of the game.
Moving ahead to the top of the eighth inning with the bases loaded and one out, RailRiders left fielder Socrates Brito’s sacrifice fly off of IronPigs pitcher Brady Lail ended the IronPigs shutout 6-1.
At the top of the ninth inning, with two outs and a runner on first, RailRiders center fielder Estevan Florial hit a two-run home run out towards left-center field to cut Lehigh Valley’s lead in half 6-3. However, IronPigs pitcher Brady Lail got the last out that ended the game. The IronPigs defeated the RailRiders 6-3.
The winning pitcher was Mark Appel (5.0 IP, 2 H, 2 BB, 4 SO) of Lehigh Valley, and the loss went to Deivi Garcia (2.0 IP, 5 H, 5 ER, 2 BB, 1 SO).
Both teams will go at it again for game five at Coca-Cola Park when Adonis Medina (3-4, 5.26 ERA) goes for Lehigh Valley against Matt Krook (0-0, 0.00) of Scranton/Wilkes-Barre. Krook is making his Triple-A debut for the RailRiders. The first pitch is at 6:35 pm on MiLB.com.
