Rochester, New York (September 12, 2023) – A valiant late comeback attempt came up just shy for the Lehigh Valley IronPigs (74-63, 38-26) as they were vanquished by the Rochester Red Wings (63-72, 29-33) by a final score of 6-4 on Tuesday night at Innovative Field.
Rochester got their only offense of the day in the second inning. Loading the bases with nobody out, the Red Wings got three straight RBI singles from Erick Mejia, Brady Lindsly, and Jeter Downs to open a 3-0 lead. Darren Baker then drove in a run with a groundout before Derek Hill brought in another with a sacrifice fly. Blake Rutherford capped the frame with one more RBI single.
The IronPigs were no-hit and shutout until the eighth. Matt Kroon broke up the no-hit bid with an infield single and Rafael Marchan followed with a clean base hit. After a strikeout, Esteban Quiroz plated them both a double to leftfield, making it 6-2.
Darick Hall walked to kick off the ninth and one out later Simon Muzziotti doubled. Kroon kept the comeback bid alive with another infield single, scoring Hall, before Muzziotti scored on a Marchan sacrifice fly. Representing the tying run at the plate with two outs, Jim Haley slugged a ball to deep right-center that just died on the warning track as the IronPigs dropped the game 6-4.
Cory Abbott (3-4) earned the win for the Red Wings. Abbott fired five no-hit innings, allowing just a walk while striking out six.
Tyler Phillips (0-2) took the loss for the IronPigs, allowing six runs (three earned) on five hits and a walk, striking out three.
The IronPigs continue their series with the Red Wings on Wednesday, September 13, with first pitch slated for 6:05 p.m.
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