Mickey Moniak drives in two runs as IronPigs hold on to beat Scranton/Wilkes-Barre

On Saturday night at Coca-Cola Park, the Lehigh Valley IronPigs were looking to even the series in game two against the Scranton/Wilkes-Barre RailRiders.

Cristopher Sanchez (2-0, 1.80 ERA) was on the mound for Lehigh Valley, while the RailRiders started Matt Krook (5-7, 4.13 ERA).

In the bottom of the first inning, IronPigs’ right fielder Dalton Guthrie walked, bringing up Mickey Moniak. Moniak grounded towards RailRiders’ second baseman Oswald Peraza, who tagged Guthrie out, and Moniak made it to first base.

IronPigs’ catcher Donny Sands was up to bat. During his plate appearance, Moniak stole second base. Sands worked the count and was walked with one out, bringing up shortstop Nick Maton. Maton grounded towards Oswald Peraza, and he got Sands out, while Maton reached first base and Moniak was at third base for Chris Sharpe. Sharpe was walked, loading the bases for designated hitter Justin Williams.

Williams grounded to RailRiders’ third baseman Armando Alverez, who had trouble getting control of the ball but did get Chris Sharpe out a second base, and Moniak scored in time before the final out for a 1-0 lead.

At the top of the third inning, IronPigs pitcher Cristopher Sanchez walked Chris Owings, followed by striking out Estevan Florial. Then, RailRiders’ second baseman Oswald Peraza doubled on a sharp ground ball past a diving Ali Castillo and into left field, allowing a run to score, tying the game 1-1. Two batters later, with two outs, Miguel Andujar singled on a sharp line drive to center field, adding another run, 2-1. Sanchez got Josh Breaux to fly out, retiring the side.

At the top of the fourth inning, IronPigs pitcher Cristopher Sanchez struck out Ben Rortvedt before giving up a double to Ronald Guzman. After getting Armando Alverez to line out to Nick Maton for the second out, Chris Owings singled to left field, adding another run, 3-1. Sanchez got Estevan Florial to ground out to first baseman Josh Ockimey, ending the inning.

Before the top of the fifth inning began, Braeden Ogle was the new IronPigs pitcher. Cristopher Sanchez went four innings, allowing five hits, three runs, one walk, and five strikeouts in 69 pitches. First, Ogle walked Oswald Peraza. Then, Peraza stole second base, followed by a double from Oswaldo Cabrera, scoring Peraza for a 4-1 lead. After Miguel Andujar reached first base on a throwing error by Ogle, Ogle got the three outs to end the inning.

Since scoring their first run in the first inning, the IronPigs were walked twice and had no hits. In the bottom of the fifth inning, they fought back to get the lead. IronPigs’ right fielder Dalton Guthrie singled to center field with one out for Mickey Moniak. During Moniak’s plate appearance, Guthrie stole second base, and Moniak walked for catcher Donny Sands.

Before Donny Sands could bat, the RailRiders made a pitching change with Michael Gomez in for Matt Krook. IronPigs’ catcher Donny Sands worked the count and earned a walk, loading the bases for Nick Maton. Maton singled on a sharp line drive to center field, scoring Guthrie to cut the RailRiders’ lead 4-2. Then, a sacrifice fly by Chris Sharpe brought home another run, 4-3 for Justin Williams. Williams doubled off the wall at left field, scoring two runs for a 5-4 lead. Finally, Ali Castillo grounded into a double play that ended the inning.

At the top of the sixth inning, Ryan Sherriff replaced Braeden Ogle. Ogle went one inning, allowing one hit, one run, one walk, and one strikeout in 20 pitches, and Sherriff threw 19 pitches to get three outs. He went an inning, allowing two hits, no runs, no walks, and one strikeout.

In the bottom of the sixth inning, IronPigs’ first baseman Josh Ockimey started the inning with a single, followed by another single from Drew Maggi. Dalton Guthrie was up next, and he tried to advance the runners but bunted towards RailRiders third baseman Armando Alverez, who threw the ball over to second base to get Maggi out. A throwing error by Oswald Peraza allowed Guthrie to reach first base, and Ockimey was at third base for Mickey Moniak.

Moniak singled on a soft line drive to center field, scoring Ockimey and Guthrie for a 7-4 lead. The IronPigs could not add any more runs after Donny Sands struck out and Nick Maton flied out to end the inning.

Michael Kelly was the new IronPigs pitcher at the top of the seventh inning. With one out, Kelly gave up a home run to Josh Breaux that went over the fence at left field, cutting Lehigh Valley’s lead 7-5. After Kelly walked Ben Rortvedt, he got Ronald Guzman to fly out and Armando Alverez to line out to left field that retired the side.

Jakob Hernandez was the new IronPigs pitcher at the top of the eighth inning. He struck out Chris Owings and got Estevan Florial to fly out for two outs. Then, he walked Oswald Peraza before giving up a double to Oswaldo Cabrera, scoring Peraza for a one-run game, 7-6. He was taken out for Nick Duron, who got Josh Breaux to ground out to shortstop Nick Maton, ending the inning.

Duron closed out the game at the top of the ninth inning. He got back-to-back strikeouts from Ben Rortvedt and Ronald Guzman, then got a fly-out from Armando Alverez to end the game. The IronPigs held on to a 7-6 win. They are now 50-42, while the RailRiders drop to 45-47. This win also marked the 500^th win for the IronPigs at Coca-Cola Park.