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| YANKS SWEEP WEEKEND SERIES WITH IRONPIGS |
| Watson's Four Hits Not Enough As Yankees Claim Finale 9-6 |
| The IronPigs were swept in their brief two-game series against Scranton/Wilkes-Barre after dropping Sunday’s finale, 9-6 from Coca-Cola Park. While last night belonged to Shelly Duncan (2 HR, 6 RBI), Sunday belonged to Scranton/Wilkes-Barre first baseman Juan Miranda who homered, drove in three and scored twice in the Yankees’ 12 win of the season against their instate rivals. Yanks shortstop Nick Green also added a two-run homer in the win for Scranton/Wilkes-Barre. |
| The featured what on paper looked like a pretty good pitching matchup between the IronPigs Kris Benson and the highly-touted Phil Hughes of the Yankees. But runs would not be at a premium in this contest as Scranton scored a 1st inning run on a two-out RBI double by Shelley Duncan. The Yankees would then take a 2-0 lead on Benson with a perfectly executed hit and run by Scranton’s Matt Carson. With Melky Cabrera running on the pitch, Carson slapped a single to right that T.J. Bohn overran allowing the speedy Cabrera to score. |
| Rich Thompson tied the game in the bottom half of the 3rd with a two-run double off Hughes. Both Mike Rouse and Brandon Watson singled in the inning and scored on the play against the talented right-hander who lasted just 3.2 innings allowing five runs on eight hits. |
| The IronPigs struck for three more in the 4th to take a 5-2 advantage fueled by Rouse’s first home run in 211 at-bats. His two-run blast reached the standing room area in right and was the shortstop’s first long ball since May 22 against Charlotte at Coca-Cola Park. Casey Smith later doubled in the inning off Hughes who was knocked out of the game after allowing a run-scoring single to Watson. |
| But the Yankees responded in the 6th to tie the game starting with Shelley Duncan’s second ground-rule double of the game. The slugging right-fielder came around on an Eric Duncan wall ball single two batters later and then Green cleared the bases with his 10th home run of the season. Benson did not finish the inning and settled for a no-decision after yielding five runs, four earned, on 10 hits in 5.1 innings on Sunday. |
| Scranton continued to use the long ball as Miranda connected on the Yankees’ sixth home run of the weekend with a solo shot leading off the 7th inning. Four men reached in the 8th against IronPigs reliever Gary Knotts and Miranda plated two of them with a single to right to give Scranton/Wilkes-Barre an 8-5 lead. Ben Broussard then made it a four-run game with sharp base hit to right-center for his 37th RBI of the season. |
| With two outs in the 9th, Watson pulled the Pigs to within three with his fourth home run of the season against Yankees reliever Scott Patterson. It was the outfielder's fourth hit of the game who also scored twice and drove in a pair in a losing effort. But Patterson retired the side to earn his fifth save of the season as the IronPigs fell to 19-44 against IL North Division opponents. Zach Kroenke (1-0) pitched three shutout innings for the Yankees in relief of Hughes to earn his first win of the season. |
| Lehigh Valley will now travel to Buffalo, N.Y. to face the Buffalo Bisons for the start of a four-game series beginning with game one on Monday night at 7:05 p.m. Matt Provence will have all the action from Dunn Tire Park beginning at 6:35 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,” 89.1 FM WYBF The Burn and Sports Radio AM 1470 The Fox. |
| The IronPigs return home on Saturday, August 24 at 5:35 p.m. when they host the Pawtucket Red Sox in a four-game series. The home stand will commence with the third IronPiglets Kids Club Day with a very special Drawstring Back Pack giveaway to the first 2,500 kids 12 and under entering Coca-Cola Park. |
| Single-game 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. |
