IronPigs Score Early and Often, Defeat Yankees 7-2

July 5, 2012 - International League (IL1)
Scranton/Wilkes-Barre Yankees News Release


Allentown, PA - Tug Hullettt gave the Lehigh Valley IronPigs all the runs they would need with a grand slam to right field in the top of the second, leading his team past the Scranton/Wilkes-Barre Yankees by a score of 7-2 on Thursday evening at Coca-Cola Park in Allentown, Pennsylvania.

After a scheduled off day on Wednesday, Ryan Howard returned to the Lehigh Valley lineup and picked up right where he left off. With nobody out and Kyle Hudson standing on third, Howard sent a seeing eye single right in between Russell Branyan at first and Corban Joseph at second, giving the IronPigs the 1-0 advantage in the first inning. Lehigh Valley then loaded the bases in the top half of the second and Hullettt crushed a grand slam to right field off of Scranton/Wilkes-Barre starter Adam Warren. The Hullett blast extended the IronPigs lead to 5-0. The Phillies triple-A affiliate wasn't done yet as they added one more run in the top half of the third on an RBI single off the bat of Hullett. It was Hullett's fifth RBI of the game and it gave the IronPigs a 6-1 lead in the third.

Brandon Laird ensured there would be no shutout in Thursday night's game. For the third straight night, Laird crushed a home run. This time, Laird went deep to right field off of Lehigh Valley starting pitcher Pat Misch, bringing Scranton/Wilkes-Barre to within 6-1 after five innings of play. The Yankees added another run in the bottom half of the sixth on an RBI single by Branyan. Joseph scored easily on the play as Hudson lost the Branyan fly ball in the lights and it dropped in on the centerfield grass

Lehigh Valley got the run right back, extending its lead to 7-2 in the top half of the seventh on a sacrifice fly to centerfield off the bat of Michael Martinez. Michael Spidale scored easily from third, not even drawing a throw from Yankee centerfielder Ray Kruml.

Warren suffered the loss in his first appearance with Scranton/Wilkes-Barre since returning from the New York Yankees. The right-hander tossed six innings, allowing six runs on 10 hits and walking four. With the loss, Warren falls to 5-6 on the season. Misch got the win for the IronPigs, improving to 6-10 on the season. The lefty tossed seven innings, allowing just two runs on six hits, while striking out eight and walking one. Preston Claiborne tossed three scoreless innings in relief for the Yankees, while Tyson Brummett and Philippe Aumont finished things for the IronPigs over the final two innings.

With the loss the Yankees are now 4.5 games behind the IronPigs for the International League North Divison lead. Scranton/Wilkes-Barre looks to get back on track Friday evening at 7:05 for the series finale against Lehigh Valley at Coca-Cola Park in Allentown. Following Friday night's game the Yankees travel to Syracuse for a short two game series with the Buffalo Bisons at Alliance Bank Stadium in Syracuse, NY. Left-hander Mike O'Connor gets the start for Scranton/Wilkes-Barre, while B.J. Rosenberg gets the nod for the IronPigs.



International League Stories from July 5, 2012


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