IronPigs win third in a row
Opportunistic offensive approach to thank for run
Jan Hernandez beat the shift with a grounder to the right of second base for a single in the eighth inning Sunday. It came with two outs in a 7-0 game. Four batters earlier, fellow Triple-A first-timer Deivy Grullon hit a ball just to the right of second base … and over the center-field wall for a 416-foot, solo home run to make it 7-0.
The significance of those approaches was not lost on IronPigs manager Gary Jones.
“It gives you a sense they have an idea of what they’re doing,” Jones said. “They are not trying to do too much, staying in the middle of the field - which is what [first-year hitting coach Darryl Robinson] is preaching.
“Guys are doing a good job of that.” It is a good sign four games into Lehigh Valley’s season that some of its youngest and inexperienced players are doing those fundamental things correctly.
There may be a good reason for that. Several of the older IronPigs are setting the proper example.
Batting before Hernandez in the home eighth, Phil Gosselin busted down the line to beat out an infield grounder. The team’s leadoff hitter reached base all five times Sunday with two infield singles, two walks and another single.
Nothing sets a better example for younger players than seeing the veterans not trying to do too much to get back to the major leagues.
“Hitting is contagious,” Gosselin said. “One guy gets on base, the next guy wants to do it. You want to keep the ball rolling. Once you get out to a lead, confidence builds and you can kind of play downhill.”
Gosselin is not a prototypical leadoff hitter, but he’s the definition of a professional hitter. His approach is simple. He understands situations and pays attention to what opposing pitchers are trying to do to him.
It has served him well in making it to the majors with five teams in 10 professional seasons.
“I just try to get a good pitch and when I do, hit it hard somewhere,” he said. “And, if it’s a ball, I try not to swing at it.”
Gosselin is hitting .417 in four regularseason games after batting .405 in 19 spring games with the Phillies.
That offensive attitude is contagious. “We’re getting good ABs up and down the lineup,” Jones said. “You strive to have good ABs because the end result of good ABs is a good end result.
“If you string together good ABs, you have a good chance to do well.”
Lehigh Valley scored 23 runs and put 44 runners on base during its threegame winning streak.
Ranger Suarez gutted his way through 91 pitches in his 2019 debut. The lefty, who struck out six (four looking) in five innings, was the beneficiary of another solid IronPigs offensive attack.
Four runs came courtesy of the first four hitters in the home first.
Gosselin’s first infield single was followed by Hernandez’s RBI double down the left-field line. Dylan Cozens worked a seven-pitch walk before Andrew Romine hit a three-run homer to right field.
It was Romine’s first Triple-A homer since Aug. 8, 2013. A week later, he was called up to the majors, where he has spent every year since … until this season.
Those four runs came off Rochester’s Zack Littell, who allowed a total of three runs in three starts (18 total innings) last year against Lehigh Valley.
Romine delivered an RBI single to right to extend the lead to 5-0 in the fifth. The 33-year-old’s approach was similar to that of Gosselin. He didn’t try to yank one to left against Rochester left-hander Andrew Vasquez.
The end result was a good end result. “I don’t know what the percentage is,” Jones said, “but if you score first, your chances of winning goes way up. The guys did a good job coming out and putting up a 4-spot and tacking on after that.”