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LAST TIME OUT: The IronPigs nearly saw another two-run late lead morph into a loss before John Hicks saved the day with a walkoff two-run homer in the last of the ninth for a 6-4 win. The 'Pigs led 3-0 thanks to a Scott Kingery two-run homer and Weston Wilson sacrifice fly. Rochester chipped away at the deficit, trimming it to 3-2 by the eighth. Cal Stevenson brought home a key insurance run with a sacrifice fly in the eighth before Nomar Mazara tied the game with two outs in the ninth with a two-run single. That set the stage for Hicks to win the game in the bottom half.
TODAY’S OPPONENT: With the series knotted at 2-2, Wily Peralta goes on Sunday night for the Red Wings. Peralta faces the Iron- Pigs for the first time this season. He took the loss his last time out, going three innings against Omaha on June 25, allowing seven runs on eight hits and two walks. It snapped a string of five straight starts of at least five innings (27.1IP, 2-0, 2.30ERA).
RAIN, RAIN, GO AWAY: For the third time this season, the IronPigs close out a series with a doubleheader thanks to a PPD for the originally planned game five of the series. The prior two times occurred against Worcester (4/23 and 5/21). This number does not include the pre-planned series ending double header against SWB in early April prior to Easter Sunday. The IronPigs have gone 8-2 in doubleheader games.
LONG BALL HALL IS LONG GONE: Darick Hall was recalled by the Phillies on Sunday morning, with Kody Clemens getting optioned back to Lehigh Valley. In his past eight games with the IronPigs, Hall slashed .448/.541/.655 (1.196 OPS) with four extra-base hits, five RBI, seven walks and three runs scored. Clemens rejoins the IronPigs after playing three games for the 'Pigs at the start of the season.
EVERYONE GETS A WALK-OFF: John Hicks's two-run walk-off homer for the IronPigs was the team's second walk-off homer this season (Weston Wilson, 5/24vsBUF). Hicks is the fifth different IronPig to collect a walk-off hit this season as each of the 'Pigs five walk-off wins has come from a different source.
BUILD FROM THE BOTTOM: The six through nine hitters in the IronPigs lineup carried the water last night in the victory. They combined to go 5-for-15 with four RBI, four runs scored, and two homers including the walk-off winner from John Hicks. Outside of that quartet at the bottom of the order, only Jake Cave registered a hit for the 'Pigs.
THE ZEUCHSTER: T.J. Zeuch continued his dominance against Rochester on Thursday night. Zeuch fired five innings of one run ball earlier this season against the Red Wings and followed that up with his third Quality Start of the season last night, allowing just one run in seven innings, picking up the victory. Zeuch threw a no-hitter against Rochester in 2019. With Zeuch going seven in-nings last night and Nick Nelson going six on Tuesday, it's the first time this seasons the IronPigs have gotten back-to-back starts of six innings or more this season.
BELL(ATTI) OF THE BALL: After allowing runs in two of his first three IronPigs outings this season, Andrew Bellatti has ripped off 10 straight scoreless appearances (10 innings), allowing six hits and two walks, while striking out 11. In his 13 outings with the Iron- Pigs this season, Bellatti has walked just two batters.
JUNE KING: Scott Kingery was a driving force of the IronPigs offense in June. In 21 games, he slashed .343/.418/.571 for a .989 OPS. He's doubled six times and homered thrice, driving in nine runs while scoring 15 times. The .989 OPS is the highest for Kingery in a single month since he posted .951 mark in June of 2019 while at the Major League level with the Phillies. Even with the calendar flipping to July, Kingery stayed red hit, hitting a two-run homer on Saturday night.
CAVE IS THE MAN: Since being assigned to Lehigh Valley on May 4, Jake Cave has been the best hitter in the International League. He's picked up IL POTW honors as well as IL POTM honors for May. Since his first game with the 'Pigs, Cave is top-5 in the IL in in hits, XBH, TB, R, 2B, RBI, AVG, SLG, OPS, and OBP.
WIPE THE SLATE: Under the new International League playoff structure, the season has been split in to two halves, with the second half starting on Wednesday. This means the IronPigs start the second half fresh with another chance to clinch a playoff berth by winning the second half division title. In the event Norfolk wins both halves, the club with the next best winning percentage in the second half will advance.
LONG TIME NO SEE: After opening the season in Rochester, the IronPigs finally face off against the Red Wigns again to open up the second half. The weird scheduling quirk had an immediate impact on the first half of the season as the third game of the year between the teams was cancelled since the two sides didn't meet again in the first half