Follow @IronPigsA pair of ninth-inning home runs lifted the Rochester Red Wings to a 3-2 victory Wednesday at Coca-Cola Park. Tom Eshelman was brilliant, carrying a no-hitter into the seventh inning, but did not earn a decision.
A pair of ninth-inning home runs lifted the Rochester Red Wings to a 3-2 victory Wednesday at Coca-Cola Park. Tom Eshelman was brilliant, carrying a no-hitter into the seventh inning, but did not earn a decision.
The teams combined for one hit through three innings, but the Pigs broke through in the bottom of the fourth. Already with two home runs in the series, Trevor Plouffe belted an opposite field shot to give Lehigh Valley a 1-0 lead. The Pigs nearly added insurance in the inning on a two-out single by Dean Anna, but Logan Moore was cut down at the plate to end the inning.
The Pigs did get an insurance run in the seventh after Mitch Walding tripled off the center field wall and was brought home one batter later on a sacrifice fly by Joey Meneses.
Nick Gordon's seventh-inning leadoff single ended Eshelman's no-hit bid. After Miguel Sanó singled, Eshelman induced a double play and a groundout to keep the shutout intact.
Eshelman allowed a home run to Willians Astudillo and a single to open the eighth and exited the game with a 2-1 lead. He went a season-high seven innings and allowed four hits while striking out two and walking none. Eshelman retired 18 of the first 19 Red Wings he faced before allowing a hit in the seventh. This was the sixth time this season that a Pigs pitcher has gone seven innings in a start.
With one out and runners on second and third, reliever Yacksel Ríos struck out the Wings' No. 1 and 2 hitters to keep the Pigs up one.
In the ninth, the Pigs turned to Pedro Beato (0-1), who was 14-for-14 on save attempts this season. On a Good Shepherd rehab assignment Miguel Sano homered to left field on Beato's first pitch to tie it up. Two batters and two outs later, Astudillo went deep for the second time in as many innings to break the 2-2 tie and put Rochester ahead.
John Curtiss (2-0) tossed two scoreless innings and was able to strand the tying and winning runs on base in the ninth to end the Pigs' five-game winning streak.
The Pigs can win the series on Thursday night with Ben Lively on the hill. It is day two of the team's Hispanic Celebration presented by La Mega Radio. The Tocinos Jersey auction presented by Tito's Vodka and cap raffle will conclude after seven innings of Thursday's contest. Click here to bid on any of our player jerseys.
The 2018 Season is the IronPigs' 11th season at Coca-Cola Park and 11th as the top affiliate of the Philadelphia Phillies. Fans can get closer to the team than ever before with a Bacon, USA membership -- a year-round IronPigs experience pass featuring numerous amenities such as savings on parking at games and at the Majestic Clubhouse Store at Coca-Cola Park, on-field VIP access to watch batting practice, access to the annual holiday party, and more. For more information, click here or call (610) 841-PIGS (7447).
The 2018 IronPigs baseball season is presented by Capital BlueCross.
