Leibrandts Arm, Cozens Bat Lead Pigs To Win

Brandon Leibrandt pitched a gem and Dylan Cozens launched two home runs as the IronPigs (54-34) defeated the Scranton/Wilkes-Barre RailRiders (54-33) Friday night at PNC Field.

Leibrandt was absolutely dealing early and often, as the southpaw did not issue a hit until the bottom of the fifth inning. In fact, Leibrandt did not even issue a base runner in the same span until a Donovan Solano solo home run broke up the perfecto bid.
It was the only hit that Leibrandt would issue in his six innings of work, as he also fanned six batters in his second Triple-A victory.
Leibrandt was spotted an early 1-0 lead in the top of the second as Héctor Gómez hit a RBI double to left that scored Cozens.
Cozens then hit solo homers in the top of the fourth, and then again in the top of the eighth inning. Sandwiched in between Cozens solo homers was the first Triple-A home run for one of the newest Pigs in Herlis Rodriguez whose solo shot gave Lehigh Valley a 3-1 lead in the seventh.
The two home run game for Cozens gave him an International League leading 21^st home run, passing teammate Rhys Hoskins.
Leibrandt gave way to Jesen Therrien, as the right-hander pitched the seventh and eighth innings issuing just two hits while striking out a pair.
Pedro Beato then came on in the ninth inning with a 4-1 lead in hand to try to add onto his International League saves lead. Beato issued a lead-off single to Jake Cave who then advanced on a wild pitch with Migue Andujar batting after Mark Payton flied out. Andujar then grounded out to third, as Gomez looked back the runner and fired across the diamond to retire Andujar. Beato then induced another groundball out as Solano bounced out to Scott Kingery to end the game.
With the save, Beato is now in sole possession of second place on the IronPigs single-season saves list with his 24^th save. He now trails just Scott Mathieson who notched 26 saves in 2010.
The Pigs continue their three-game set with the Scranton/Wilkes-Barre RailRiders Saturday night at PNC Field. The Pigs will send left-hander César Ramos (4-3, 3.86) and the RailRiders had yet to announce their starter at the time of print. First pitch is scheduled for 6:35 p.m.
The 2017 Season is the IronPigs 10^th Anniversary season at Coca-Cola Park and 10^th as the top affiliate of the Philadelphia Phillies. The IronPigs are debuting the brand-new Bacon, USA, Membership Program this season -- a year-round IronPigs experience pass featuring numerous new 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 an annual holiday party, an invitation to an exclusive player and coaches photo session and more. For more information, visit ironpigsbaseball.com or call (610) 841-PIGS (7447). Memberships and group outings are on sale now.
The 2017 IronPigs baseball season is presented by Capital BlueCross.