LAST TIME OUT: The ‘Pigs had their five-game winning streak snapped on Saturday, losing 8-5 to Columbus in 10 innings. Rafael Lantigua hit a two-run homer his first of the year and Erick Brito had a two-run single. Rodolfo Castro beat out an RBI infield single to tie the game with two outs in the ninth. A Dom Nunez three-run homer put the game on ice for the Clippers in the 10th. Alan Rangel struck out seven, but allowed five runs in five innings on two homers. Nick Vespi, Austin Schulfer, and Joel Kuhnel each threw scoreless innings in relief.
TODAY’S OPPONENT: Parker Messick starts the finale for the Clippers. Messick took the loss on Tuesday, allowing five runs (four earned) in 3.1 innings. He allowed four hits and four walks, striking out five and also hit two batters. It was the second straight start he allowed four earned runs. After going ine straight scoreless innnings to begin the year, he's allowed nine runs (eight earned) in his past 8.1 innings. Messick was a 2nd round pick of the Guardians out of Florida State in 2022.
PLAYING FROM BEHIND: The 'Pigs rallied on Saturday night, but ultimately couldn't overcome Columbus for a late comeback win. The 'Pigs are now 0-7 when trailing after seven innings and their three-run comeback against SWB on Opening Night (with the 'Pigs taking the lead prior to the seventh) is still their largest comeback win of the season. The 'Pigs have just 219 ABs this season when trailing, third fewest in the IL (they have the 2nd most ABs while leading, 423).
CAUGHT RED HANDED: For the second straight game, the 'Pigs were caught stealing twice on Saturday night. They were also caught twice on Friday night and have been caught five times this week, leading the IL during that span. It's the second time in three years they've been caught twice on back-to-back night (6/9-6/10/23 @ SYR). They had been caught all of seven times coming into the week.
ON THE ARMS OF GIANTS: 'Pigs starting pitching has carried the load this season as Mick Abel (28.1IP), Nabil Crismatt (27), and Kyle Tyler (26.1) are the league leaders in innigns pitched to this point. IronPigs starters have worked a combined 127.2 innings, 15.2 more innings than the second place squad (Nashville). Their 3.24 ERA is 6th in the league and their 12 wins are four more than Jacksonville starters in second.
FERGALICIOUS: Just 48 hours after joining the 'Pigs, Cade Fergus led them to victory with his walk-off two-run homer on Thursday night. It's Fergus's first HR as a 'Pig. The 429 foot blast is tied for the longest homer hit this year by a 'Pig (Otto Kemp has the other). The hangtime of 6.05 seconds is second as well, behind only Kemp (6.27 sec). Fergus had homered twice in 11 games for Reading. This is his first career walk-off homer; he did have a walk-off hit for Clearwater back in 2023.
THE IRONWINS: Despite blowing the lead in the 8th inning on Thursday, the 'Pigs remain a perfect 17-0 when leading after seven innings. They are also now 6-0 in two-run games and a combined 9-1 in games decided by two-run or less. The blown save assessed to Devin Sweet was also their first BS of the season.
POWER RESTORED: After failing to homer in four straight games (their longest power outage this season), the 'Pigs got their power stroke back in a big way, belting three homers on Thursday night. Buddy Kennedy and Garrett Stubbs each hit solo shots, while Cade Fergus clubbed a walk-off two-run homer. For both Kennedy and Fergus, it was their first homers of the year for the 'Pigs.
BETTER BRITO BUREAU: Erick Brito had his first three-hit game of the season on Thursday. He had two singles and a double, driving in a run, scoring a run, and laying down a sac bunt. It's his first three-hit game since May 31, 2024 when he was with Jersey Shore. It is just the ninth three-hit game of his professional career.
TWO SAC BUNTS, IN THIS ECONOMY!?!: In laying down two sac bunts on Thursday, the 'Pigs are just one of seven teams in all of triple-A baseball to do so this season. They were also the first two sac bunts of the year for the team too. The 'Pigs last laid down multiple sacrifice bunts on June 23, 2024 against Norfolk. They sacrificed twice in a game three times last year.
MARSH MANIA: Brandon Marsh began a rehab assignment (right hamstring/back of knee) on Thursday night, going 0-for-2 with a walk, playing five innings. Marsh was placed on the IL on April 20 (retroactive to April 17). Marsh has appeared with the 'Pigs on rehab before in 2023, playing two games.
MR. RAGER: Ranger Suarez continues his rehab from lower back stiffness with the IronPigs. Suarez had made two starts with Single-A Clear water, allowing one run over seven innings. Suarez made two rehab starts back in 2023 for the ‘Pigs and pitched for the team from 2018-19. Suarez was a 2024 National League All-Star.
CLIPPERS COME SAILING IN: Columbus comes to Coca-Cola Park for the first time since they opened the 2022 season against the ‘Pigs. The two sides split that six-game set. Last year, the ‘Pigs took four of six in their first trip to Columbus since 2019. In that series David Dahl went 11-for-21 with four homers and Weston Wilson also socked four dingers while the team ripped 17 homers total.
CLIPPER CONNECTION: Plenty of form ‘Pigs dot the Columbus roster and coaching staff. Most prominently, Clippers Manager Andy Tracy was one of the original faces of the IronPigs franchise, starring for the club from 2008-2010. Until Darick Hall unseated him last year, Tracy held the franchise record for most homers (69). Tracy is 4th all-time in ‘Pigs games played (378). Tracy still holds the single-season record for RBI (96) and career mark for BB (207) while being top-5 career in nearly every offensive category. Current pitchers Kolby Allard and Vince Velasquez are former ‘Pigs while Christian Cairo’s father, Miguel, played for the ‘Pigs in 2009.
THE ONLY SPLITS I LIKE ARE BANANA: The ‘Pigs split a series for the first time this season, going 3-3 last week in Gwinnett. The ‘Pigs are still unbeaten this year in series at 3-0-1. Last year the ‘Pigs split seven series in total, going 10-10-7 on the year.
BASE HIT BARRAGE: Nobody has more hits in the IL than the ‘Pigs (181). They’ve been especially ruthless when coming off a win, leading the league with 106 hits in games after an W. The 5-hole has been the most productive for the ‘Pigs as they spot in the order has 25 hits and a .347 average. There hasn’t been a team more clutch with two outs either, as RISP/2 the ‘Pigs have a league-best 35 hits.
PIG TO THE BIGS: Cal Stevenson becomes the first ‘Pig to get called up to the show this season as he was recalled by the Phillies on Sunday with Brandon Marsh hitting the IL. Stevenson appeared in Sunday’s game, pinch-hitting and providing a game-tying single in the 8th inning. Stevenson made his Phillies debut last year, appearing in 18 games where he slashed .250/333./.375.
FIRST PITCH FEASTING: In attack mode from the jump, the ‘Pigs are hitting an absured .426 with a league best 40 hits on the first pitch of atbats. This includes 16 XBH (9 2B, 2 3B, 5 HR). Otto Kemp leads the way with seven first-pitch hits while Gabriel Rincones Jr. has swung at the first pitch most often (17 times).
青柳 晃洋: After a tough debut outing, Koyo Aoyagi has been nails for the ‘Pigs. In his ensuing six outings, Aoyogi has not allowed a run in 6.1 innings, giving up just two hits and three walks, striking out seven. Aoyagi is the first Japanese player to suit up for the ‘Pigs.
‘PIG PEN PALS: The bullpen has been dynamite for the ‘Pigs since allowing 10 runs in the final two frames to SWB on March 31. In April, the ‘Pigs have six relievers (Aoyagi, Cuas, Padilla, Schulfer, Zuñiga) who have not allowed an earned run in the month. Nine relievers have allowed three earned runs of fewer in the month. In total, the pen is 4-1 with 5 saves in as many chances in April with a 3.38 ERA. KING CRAW OF CONTACT: Put the ball in play and good things will happen. Three of Justin Crawford’s four hits last Thursday registered less than 100MPH exit velos. Among qualified players in the International League, Crawford ranks third in average sprint speed at 30.6 ft/s and is 6th in average steal time to second at 3.65 seconds.
OTTO VAN BIS-GONE: Otto Kemp added five more XBH (3 2B, 2 HR) during the series against Gwinnett. That gives him 13 on the season, tying him for the IL lead. Among qualified players, Kemp is 10th in the IL in average exit velocity at 93.7 MPH.
WESTWARD BOUND: Weston Wilson’s rehab has taken him back to to the ‘Pigs. Recovering from a right oblique strain, Wilson played four games for Clearwater to begin his rehab before joining the ‘Pigs in Gwinnett. Wilson has hit 49 homers for the ‘Pigs over the last two seasons in 196 games and is the franchise’s single-season record holder with 30 in 2023. After beginning 2024 with the ‘Pigs, Wilson was promoted to Philadelphia on July 12 and never returned to Lehigh Valley. In 38 games with the Phillies to close out the season, Wilson hit .298/.362/.512 with three homers while becoming the first Phillies rookie to hit for the cycle on August 15.
THE CRIZZLER: Nabil Crismatt earned his second straight win on Friday night, allowing just two runs in six innings for his second straight Quality Start. Crismatt had set a career high with nine strikeouts in his prior outing, carrying a no-hit bid into the sixth.
TURN ON THE AC: Anthony Contreras returns to the IronPigs as manager for the 4th straight season, becoming just the second IronPig manager to man the bench for four years. AC comes into the year with 224 wins, trailing only Dave Brundage (286) for most in franchise history
