| BAILEY'S BLAST FIZZLES OUT IRONPIGS |
| Benson Can't Keep PawSox off the Board in 7-6 LV Loss |
| Even on Independence Day, the IronPigs could not free themselves from their losing ways against Pawtucket who beat Lehigh Valley in a slugfest, 7-6 from McCoy Stadium on Friday night. The first-place PawSox slugged three homers including an 8th inning jack off the bat of Jeff Bailey which proved to be the game-winner in the IronPigs ninth straight loss to Boston’s Triple-A affiliate this season. |
| Kris Benson made his second start of the season for Lehigh Valley and got roughed up for six runs on nine hits over 5.0 innings. The former #1 overall pick of the Pittsburgh Pirates has an ERA of 10.00 since joining the club last week and did not toss a shutout inning until the 5th on Friday. |
| He allowed two in the 1st on a pair of solo homers by former Phillies farmhand Joe Thurston (7) and Chris Carter (17). The PawSox would then take a 3-0 lead on an RBI single by Bailey in the 2nd which was set up by a one-out double by Sean Danielson and a sacrifice bunt by Gil Velazquez. |
| The IronPigs would storm back against Pawtucket starter Devern Hansack immediately as they put two on the board in their half of the 3rd on a groundout by Rich Thompson and a run-scoring single by Mike Cervenak. |
| Benson couldn’t keep it a 3-2 however as the PawSox added their fourth run of the game on a line drive single to left by Dusty Brown that scored Carter who doubled earlier in the frame against the Lehigh Valley right-hander. Carter paced a Pawtucket offense that collected 12 hits in the game by finishing 3-for-5 with a home run and a double while also scoring two runs for the victors. |
| But the IronPigs would cut the lead to 4-3 in the 4th when Mike Rouse followed a Jason Jaramillo double down the left field line with a single for his first of two RBI base hits in the contest. Pawtucket though was not fooled by the rehabbing Benson as they scored two more times off the righty in the bottom half of the 4th on a two-run single by Thurston to make it a 6-3 game. |
| Jaramillo and Rouse hooked up again in the top of the 6th as the IronPigs catcher tallied his second two-bagger of the evening and 13th of the season. The All-Star set up Rouse with an RBI chance and the shortstop delivered by once again delivering a clutch base hit to pull Lehigh Valley to within two at 6-4. |
| In the 7th, Dave Huppert’s club tied the game on a two-run double by Jon Knott who continues to swing the hot bat for the IronPigs over the last few weeks. Both Brandon Watson and Thompson walked in the inning against reliever Hunter Jones (4-2) and each would come around on Knott’s 27th extra-base hit in 56 games in an IronPigs’ uniform. The Lehigh Valley left-fielder has driven in multiple runs in four of his last nine games. |
| But then Bailey put Pawtucket over the top when he took R.J. Swindle (1-1) deep for his 23rd round-tripper of the season and 10th PawSox homer against Lehigh Valley pitching in nine games. It was the first home run allowed by the left-hander in 19 appearances for the IronPigs and he would go on to suffer his first loss of the 2008 season. |
| With the loss, Lehigh Valley has now lost four of their last five and is now 0-14 against Pawtucket and Scranton/Wilkes-Barre this season. The PawSox meanwhile, have won 11 of their last 12 and hold a 5.5 game lead over the Yankees in the IL North Division. |
| First pitch for Saturday night’s series finale is scheduled for 6:05 p.m. and Matt Provence along with Jon Schaeffer will have all the action beginning at 5:35 p.m. with the AT&T pre-game show on flagship station 90.3 FM WXLV, 95.1 HD-2 WZZO, “The Digital Home of the IronPigs,” and AM 1410 WLSH. |
| The IronPigs return home and open a four-game series against the Louisville Bats on Sunday afternoon at 5:35 p.m. The first 2,500 kids 12 and under will receive a one-of-a-kind IronPiggy Bank compliments of Toyota. Also, at the conclusion of all Sunday home games, all fans 12 and under can “Run the Bases” courtesy of Rascal’s Food & Fun. |
| Single-game tickets, new second-half mini-plan packages and group tickets for the IronPigs inaugural season, presented by Capital BlueCross, are on sale now and can be purchased at the Coca-Cola Park Ticket Office, online at www.ironpigsbaseball.com or by calling (610) 841-PIGS |
