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LAST TIME OUT: Another IronPigs comeback was snuffed out by a late bullpen collapse as Buffalo rallied themselves for a 14-9 victory on Saturday night. The IronPigs trailed 6-1 early but scored four in the second, one in the fourth, and three in the fifth to take a 9-8 lead after five. Buffalo pounced for five in the seventh and ultimately scored six unanswered for the win. The IronPigs blew their league leading 19th save of the season in the loss. Jake Cave drove in four while John Hicks went 2-for-3 with 3 RBIs. The IronPigs pitching staff allowed a season high six homers. The IronPigs lead the series 3-2.
TODAY’S OPPONENT: Drew Hutchinson starts the finale for the Bisons. Hutchinson has picked up back-to-back wins, winning twice last week against Rochester. Last Sunday he went five innings, allowing one runs on three hits and a walk, striking out a season high nine. Hutchinson pitched for the Phillies in 2018, going 1-1 with a 4.64 ERA in 21.1 innings.
EVEN STEVENS: The Phillies claimed OF Cal Stevenson off waivers from the Giants on Friday and optioned him to Lehigh Valley. Stevenson is the fourth player in the past nine months to join the Phillies from the Giants (Marte, L. Ortiz, A. Vasquez). Stevenson was 0-for-12 in 6 games for the Giants this season. He made his Major League debut with Oakland last year and now joins his third organization of 2023. ORTIZ OPENS: The IronPigs dip back into the well for another bullpen game on Sunday. Luis Ortiz will open this one up, the ifrst open for his this season. Ortiz opened four games last year for Triple-A Sacramento and was a starter through 2019 after being drafted in the first round out of high school in 2014.
THE COMEBACK PIGS: The IronPigs tied their largest comeback of the season, rallying from four runs down to win on a Weston Wilson walk-off homer on May 24. It was the IronPigs second walk-off win in three home games. The walk-off dinger was the first since July 4, 2019 when Jan Hernandez ripped a two-run homer to cap off a six-run ninth inning in a 12-10 win over Pawtucket (this note courtesy of Pat McCarthy).
DINGER DUDES: The IronPigs have become the bash bros in May, homering three times in one game on five different occasions while also adding in eight games of two homers as well, making it 13 of 23 games in May with multiple homers. In March and April the IronPigs had just seven games of multiple homers.
DREW WHO?: Get to know the name, as newest 'Pig Drew Ellis announced his prescence with authority this past week against the WooSox. Ellis was named International League Player of the Week as he went 7-for-16 (.438) with four homers, 13 RBI, 5 runs scored, and two walks. Ellis hit three, three-run homers and three of his four longballs gave the IronPigs the lead. Ellis was signed by the Phillies as a MiLB free agent on April 16. He began his season with Double-A Reading before being promoted to Lehigh Val- ley on May 17. Ellis was originally drafted the Arizona Diamondbacks in the 2nd round of the 2017 MLB draft out of Louisville. Ellis made his Major League debut with the Diamondbacks in 2021.
LET'S GO SPELUNKING: Jake Cave has been tearing the cover off the ball since being optioned to Lehigh Valley. Cave has a hit in every game he's played with the IronPigs (20), going 37-for-84 with a team leading 15 doubles plus seven homers and 22 RBI. Since May 4 (his first game with LHV), Cave leads the IL in batting average (.440), slugging (.869), OPS (1.389), and 2B (15).
WESTWARD BOUND: Possibly the 'Pigs most impactful player in May, Wilson is 12th in the IL this month in OPS (1.085) with eight homers (t-2nd) and 26 driven in (t-1st). He's walked 19 times in the month while striking out just 26 times and has also added five doubles and a walk-off homer on May 24 while riding a 10 game hitting streak.
CORN ON THE COBB: Trey Cobb has strung together four straight scoreless outings, totaling 4.1 innings where he's struck out four and walked just one without allowing a hit. This comes after a strech where he allowed eight runs in just three innings, walking five.
APRIL SHOWERS BRING MAY DINGERS: After struggling offensively in April, the IronPigs bats have sprung to life in May. They are fourth in the IL in OPS (.872) during the month and are 2nd in runs the month (159) while swatting the fourth most homers (38).
SAVE ME, PLEASE: The IronPigs ended up outscoring the WooSox last week on the whole, but lost three one-run games, including two walk-offs leading to a series loss (4-2 WooSox). Those three losses featured a combined five blown saves as the IronPigs now lead the league with 16 blown saves on the season. Luis Ortiz converted the Iron- Pigs first save since May 4 (Erich Uelmen) when he fired a scoreless ninth on Tuesday. The IronPigs are 9-for-29 in saves this season