Former Phillie Kratz bombs Lehigh Valley
The Lehigh Valley IronPigs led the Scranton/Wilkes-Barre RailRiders after the first inning, but saw the lead go away as the game went on. Scranton/Wilkes-Barre defeated Lehigh Valley 12-5 and sent the Pigs home losing two out of three games.
Deivy Grullon hit a three-run home run off Jonathan Loaisiga in the top of the first inning to give the Pigs a 3-0 lead. The game then shifted in the RailRiders favor in the bottom of the third inning. Gosuke Katoh homered off Ramon Rosso (1-2) to get things started, then Thairo Estrada hit an RBI single to score Billy Burns. Ryan McBroom capped off the inning with a two-run home run to give the RailRiders a 4-3 lead.
Erik Kratz hit a three-run home run off Rosso in the bottom of the fifth to extend Scranton/Wilkes-Barre’s lead to 7-4. Rosso allowed seven runs – three home runs – in 4 1/3 innings, before Seth McGarry pitched 2 2/3 innings in relief.
The Pigs did get two runs off Adonis Rosa (4-0) in the top of the seventh inning to cut the RailRiders lead to 7-5. Phil Gosselin hit an RBI double and Grullon brought in Gosselin via an RBI single. Scranton/Wilkes-Barre extended their lead to 10-5 off McGarry in the bottom of the seventh inning when Kratz hit a sacrifice fly to score Tyler Wade and Katoh added a two-run single.
The former IronPig, Kratz struck again in the bottom of the eighth inning as he hit a two-run single off J.D. Hammer to give the RailRiders a 12-5 lead. Kratz turned in a six RBI performance, a season best for the former IronPig and Phillie.
The IronPigs return to action on Tuesday as they begin a six-game homestand at Coca-Cola Park. First pitch is at 7:05 p.m. against the Louisville Bats.
