LAST TIME OUT: The 'Pigs claimed a second straight series victory with a 9-3 win over Buffalo on Saturday night, making it four out of five wins in the series. Ruben Cardenas debuted for the 'Pigs, ingratiating himself with two homers and six RBI. Tyler Phillips struck out a season high nine, allowing three runs over seven innings. Jim Haley smacked a two-run homer as well. It's the first time this season the 'Pigs have won back-to-back series.
TODAY’S OPPONENT: Andrew Bash makes his second start of the week for the Bisons. Bash allowed two runs in four innings on Tuesday, striking out four without walking anyone and allowing five hits, including a homer to Aramis Garcia. Bash has been a model of consistency as he ahs not allowed more than three earned runs in 11 of his 12 outings.
GRILLED RUBEN: Ruben Cardenas made his 'Pigs debut on Saturday night and promptly smacked two homers and drove in six runs. Cardenas was dealt to the Phillies from Tampa Bay in exchange for cash on June 6. He now has 13 homers on the season across his time with Durham and the IronPigs.
LEHMAN'S TERMS: Taylor Lehman has evolved into a late-inning weapon for the 'Pigs and has struck out five of the past seven batters he's faced. Since allowing three runs in his third outing of the season, Lehman has pitched to a 1.65 ERA in his next 16.1 innings, striking out 17 with an opponent's batting average of .132.
DR. PODCOOL: Nick Podkul extended his hitting streak to seven games with a walk-off two-run homer on Thursday night before going yard again on Friday to push the streak to eight. The streak came to a close on Saturday night. During the streak, he homered four times and had two doubles as well (six of his eight hits in the streak). Podkul's last walk-off hit actually came for Buffalo, a game-winning single on June 22, 2022 against St. Paul.
LOOOOOP: Jordan Luplow slugged two homers in the win Thursday night. It's his first multi-homer game of the season and gave him double-digits on the season. Over his past 13 games, Luplow has three doubles and four homers. Luplow spent the bulk of his minor legaue time last year with Buffalo, appearing in 48 games.
FIRST TIME, LONG TIME: With his win on Tuesday, Tyler Gilbert collected his first win with the IronPigs in 2024. It was his first win as a 'Pig since his last outing with LHV in 2019, when he earned the victory on August 31 at Pawtucket with 2.1 innings of scoreless ball.
TALKIN' TATERS: The 'Pigs hit a season-high five homers in Sunday's win over Columbus. Last year, the 'Pigs hit six homers twice, but never hit exactly five. Within the five homers Sunday, David Dahl and Weston Wilson hit back-to-back homers to start the game for the first time this year. Aramis Garcia capped the frame with a two-run homer, the first time this year the 'Pigs have hit three bombs in an inning. Since May 13, the IronPigs lead the IL in homers with 45.
KINGERY DINGERY: Scott Kingery posted his fourth multi-homer game of the season on Tuesday. He leap-frogged David Dahl for the team lead now with 13 and he has now hit double digit homers in back-to-back seasons for the first time in his career. The four multi-HR games is now a career high, surpassing the three such games back in 2017 when he hit a career high 26 homers across Double-A and Triple-A.
LAZAR BEAM: Max Lazar has allowed just two hits in his past eight appearances, converting four saves during that time and collecting his first Triple-A win on June 1 with two perfect innings, striking out two. He's struck out 12 and walked two over those nine innings as well. Transferred to Lehigh Valley on May 8, Lazar didn't allow a run (or a walk) in 10.1 innings with Reading, striking out 18 while allowing just three hits. Over his past four outings, he's now retired 12 in a row as well.
WESTWARD BOUND: Weston Wilson got his first recall of the season as the Phillies called him up on Monday, June 3. Wilson hit his second walk-off as an IronPig on May 23rd, a three-run homer. It came almost a year to the day after his first (May 24, 2023 vs. Buffalo). Wilson was hitting just .237 going into that game last year and went on to slash .271/.376/.523 with 21 homers and 27 stolen bases the remainder of the season. Wilson's three-hit game as part of the walk-off just boosted his average above .200 again and he has six homers in his past 11 games, including long balls in three consecutive games, one game away from tying the franchise record of four games.
PAINT ON THE DAHL: Thanks to posting a top-5 OPS in the IL, David Dahl had his contract selected by the Phillies on Monday, June 3. After going 1-for-7 to start the season, Dahl has slashed .350/.420/.686 with seven doubles, two triples, and 12 homers. Dahl has posted five straight multi-hit games, with four homers last week in Columbus.
CYCLING OFF THE DAHL: David Dahl hit for the cycle in game one of a doubleheader on May 15, becoming the first 'Pig to complete the feat since Maikel Franco did it 8/23/14 vs. Syracuse in game two of a DH. The first cycle in team history was Michael Taylor (8/12/09 vs. Louisville) Crazily enough for Dahl not only was the triple that he hit to complete the cycle the first of his season, it was his first since 2022!
PINCH-HIT PALOOZA: The IronPigs have not been afraid to dip into their bench and go to a pinch hitter this season. They already have 27 pinch-hit plate appearances (leading the IL by 13), with six hits, including three doubles and a homer. Of those six hits, three have tied or given the 'Pigs the lead. Last year, the 'Pigs had just 23 pinch-hit plate appearances all season, with three hits total.
AMONG HALLOWED HALLS: Darick Hall, currently sitting at 65 career homers with Lehigh Valley, needs just four more homers to tie Andy Tracy (69) for the most homers in franchise history and also has 230 career RBI with the 'Pigs, needing just 31 RBI to tie Tracy (261) for the RBI mark.
PRESIDENT BUCHANAN: David Buchanan has returned to the IronPigs after an eight-year absence and has already made waves in the record book. With his victory on April 10, Buchanan secured his 25th win as an IronPig, giving him the most in franchise history. He's in sight of the strikeout record as well, currently 73 punchouts away from breaking Drew Carpenter's mark of 306.