Perkins Homers, Eshelman Tosses Gem In Pigs Win

Cam Perkins hit a two-run home run in the top of the first inning, and Tom Eshelman pitched a gem as the IronPigs (74-58) defeated the Pawtucket Red Sox (62-71) by the score of 3-0 Saturday night at McCoy Stadium.

Before Pigs starter Tom Eshelman toed the rubber, he was spotted a two run lead in the top of the first inning.
Scott Kingery grounded out to begin the game, however, J.P. Crawford took his International League leading 73^rd free pass to give the Pigs a base runner.
Cameron Perkins then came to the plate with Crawford on first and drilled a two-run shot on a 2-2 pitch to left field, giving the Pigs and Eshelman a 2-0 lead.
Not to be outdone by his center fielder, Eshelman pitched an absolute gem for the Pigs. The right-hander tossed seven scoreless frames, yielding just four hits striking out four batters.
After issuing just two hits through his first six innings, the 23-year-old surrendered a pair of hits in the top of the seventh inning. The Calrsbad, Calif., native surrendered a lead-off single to Brian Bogusevic and a base knock to Sam Travis.
With just one out in the frame, Eshelman stranded both runners as Ryan Court popped out to shallow right field and retired Deven Marrero as he fielded a comebacker and tossed over to Brock Stassi to record the final out of the inning.
Eshelman picked up his ninth win of the season in the Pigs 14^th shutout victory, their first since July 21 against Gwinnett.
Casey Fien would come on for the eighth inning and retired the first two batters he saw out of the Pig 'Pen. After yielding a two-out walk to Tzu-Wei Lin, Fien got Heiker Meneses to fly out to center field to end the inning.
The Pigs added a big RMG Insurance run in the top of the ninth inning, as Crawford scored from third on a sacrifice fly from Brock Stassi to up the Pigs lead to 3-0. Crawford led off the frame with his 74^th walk of the season, swiped second and then advanced to third on a base hit by Perkins.
Minor League and Pigs all-time single-season saves leader, Pedro Beato, came in to close out the game in the ninth. The 30-year-old retired the side in order, striking out Sam Travis to preserve the 3-0 win giving Beato his 29^th save of the season.
Scott Kingery saw his franchise-record 23-game hitting streak come to an end, as the 23-year-old went 0-for-5. The 23-game streak fell just shy of the longest Triple-A hitting streak of the season, set by Fresno Grizzlies outfielder Tony Kemp who had a 24-game streak.
At the time of print, the Rochester Red Wings held a 5-3 lead in the eighth inning against the Buffalo Bisons. Should the Bisons come back, the Pigs would trail the Red Wings by just a single game in the International League's Wild Card.
The series concludes Sunday afternoon with the Pawtucket Red Sox at McCoy Stadium. The Pigs will send right-hander José Taveras (2-1, 1.86), and the Red Sox will send right-hander Hector Velasquez (7-4, 2.39). First pitch is scheduled for 1:35 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.