Making broom
Pigs cap homestand with sweep of division leader
The Iron-Pigs entered their weekend series against first-place Scranton/ Wilkes-Barre reeling.
They exited the three-game series rocking.
Lehigh Valley prevailed over the Railriders 10-7 in a Sunday matinee before a capacity crowd of 10,010 at Coca-Cola Park. That completed a sweep of the International League Northern Division leaders, who lost 4-3 to the Iron-Pigs on Friday night and 12-3 on Saturday night.
The Iron-Pigs improved to 38-41 but remain fifth in the six-team division.
Manager Gary Jones’ team had dropped its first two games of the five-game homestand to Rochester. The Iron-Pigs were 8-19 over a 27-game stretch before facing archrival Scranton/Wilkes-Barre, the Yankees’ Triple-A team.
“That’s just baseball, man,” Jones explained. “I think it all starts with pitching and defense. We played cleaner games and then we scored some runs. It was a good combination.
“I take my hat off to our guys. They’ve been clawing and battling and scrapping all year. This was a good series for us.”
Sunday’s finale was tied at 6-6 in the bottom of the seventh inning — Scranton/WB had scored twice in the top of the frame on Logan Morrison’s two-run homer — when the Pigs erupted for four runs.
They loaded the bases on hits by Ali Castillo and Adam Haseley and a walk to Jan Hernandez. Andrew Romine drove in a run with a fielder’s choice, then All-Star catcher Deivy Grullon ripped a three-run homer to right field. Grullon also had a double in the game.
Romine finished with three RBIs, while Castillo collected two hits and scored twice for the Iron-Pigs, who totaled 39 runs during the homestand.
“I liked the way we grinded ABs,” Jones said. “Just keep the line moving; don’t try to be a hero. Find a way to get
on base [and] eventually something will pop . ... Just keep the pressure on.”
All-Star reliever Austin Davis threw 2 1⁄3 scoreless innings. The left-hander walked one and struck out three. Edubray Ramos earned the win in relief.
The 3-hour, 44-minute game included 16 walks, four hit batters, four errors and 381 total pitches.