The Lehigh Valley IronPigs (19-21) visited ESL Ballpark on Tuesday night to begin a six-game series against the Rochester Red Wings (21-19). Chuck King was on the mound for Lehigh Valley against Luis Perales of Rochester.
In the bottom of the first inning, Rochester had a runner on third base when Yohandy Morales hit an RBI single to left field. Christian Franklin scored for a 1-0 lead. With two outs, a pop-out by Abimelec Ortiz ended the inning.
Moving to the bottom of the third inning, Rochester had a runner on first base when Yohandy Morales hit an RBI double to the corner of left field. Dylan Crews scored for a 2-0 lead. With two outs, a flyout to right field by Abimelec Ortiz ended the inning.
Lehigh Valley starter Chuck King pitched five innings, allowing three hits, two runs, two walks, and four strikeouts, throwing 84 pitches, of which 47 were strikes. Zach Pop was the new pitcher for Lehigh Valley in the bottom of the sixth inning. Rochester had runners on the corners when Robert Hassell III hit a sacrifice bunt to Pop. Dylan Crews scored for a 3-0 lead. Pop struck out Andrew Pinckney to end the inning. Pop allowed two hits, one run, and one strikeout, throwing 14 pitches, of which 11 were strikes.
Nolan Hoffman pitched for Lehigh Valley in the bottom of the seventh inning. He struck one out, throwing six pitches, of which six were strikes, to get three outs. At the top of the eighth inning, Lehigh Valley had the bases loaded with one out when Bryan De La Cruz grounded into a 4-6-3 inning-ending double play.
Nolan pitched in the bottom of the eighth inning. He finished the night pitching two innings, allowing one hit and two strikeouts, throwing 24 pitches, of which 17 were strikes.
At the top of the ninth inning, Liover Peguero and Caleb Ricketts struck out, and a lineout by Sergio Alcantara ended the game. The IronPigs were shut out by the Red Wings 3-0. It’s their third straight loss.
Lehigh Valley finished the night with four hits, 1 for 5 with runners in scoring position, and left eight men on base. The loss went to Lehigh Valley starter Chuck King (1-2), the win went to Rochester starter Luis Perales (1-4), and Eddy Yean earned his sixth save of the season.
The IronPigs and Red Wings play game two on Wednesday at 6:05 pm on the MLB App. Ryan Cusick (0-3, 6.43 ERA) will be on the mound for Lehigh Valley against Andry Lara (1-2, 3.82 ERA) of Rochester.
