The weather looks like it will be clear enough to play a game this evening (6:35pm start at The Coke), but it’s going to be one of those days. Weather report calls for scattered showers, 40% chance increasing later. The radar shows a different story where it may be cool, damp and cloud covered.. there will most likely be a game. One of those games where my joints hurts and everything seems to have a thin layer of water on it. If you are planning to sit on the grass, bring something water proof to place under your blanket.

Tonight we get to see Shoeless Eddie Bonine start for the Pigs on short rest.. (Let’s hope he’s figured out what NOT to say to umpires) and a fully rested bullpen after Bass’ 9 inning masterpiece to open against the Tide last night.

Opposing Bonine will be Norfolk’s Chorye Spoone. He is 2 and 1 in 6 starts with a 4.55 ERA.

See you at the game!

Tonight the Tide sent Michael Ballard to the mound to face the staunch Ironpig’s lineup. No, not THAT Michael Ballard (but I’m sure web searches have brought a few new visitors to our blog).

The story tonight was pitcher Brian Bass who murdered Tide hitters to throw the 3rd complete game win in Ironpig history! Bass allowed 2 earned runs and struck out 5 while walking only 2 batters.

The hits! THE HITS! The Pigs finally topped the 12 hit mark with 2 long home runs in the 9 with a single to cover the 12 hits needed to make the Philly Pretzel challenge go into effect! With that effort, Philly Pretzels will donate $60 to the National Brain Tumor Society fundraiser and to the Lehigh Valley Roller Girls roller derby team! Thank you Philly Pretzel!!!!

The hitting was a great team effort with every Pig but Belliard contributing and Barfield, Sullivan, Moss Hogg and Kratz each collecting 2 hits for the evening.

Some other thoughts..

The infield for the Ironpigs had a B theme going. Bozied, Barfield, Bocock and Belliard!

With Bass’ complete game, it gave the bullpen a night off after a long ride home and having to cover yesterday’s game when Shoeless Eddie Bonine was ejected in the first inning.

Tomorrow’s game begins at 6:35PM EDST and I would think Bonine could start this game or Sunday.

See you there!

This is a fictional account. Nothing written below is true.

Dave – “Hey Bob! Fun game today! Let me buy you a drink!”

Bob – “Thanks Dave… we really stood out tonight!”

Dave – “Dude, I still can’t believe you tossed HIM and the starting pitcher so soon!”

Bob – “That’s how I roll.. ”

Dave – “Definately better than Jerry calling for the tarp in Buffalo! You are gonna win for sure!”

Bob – “It’s a long season… a lot more games”

Dave – “Yeah but still man, that’s going to be hard to beat.. you’ll make the big leagues soon!”

Bob – “If I do, I do… if I don’t, well.. I can always tell my grandkids I ejected a Hall of Famer from a game”

Dave – “You won’t be the only one.. ha, I’ve got their next home stand! Be ready!”

Bob – “Yeah, if they only knew what we’re up to…”

The first inning provided a lot of fireworks and it isn’t even Friday yet! Tagg Bozied launched a monster home run off the scoreboard in Toledo giving the Pigs a quick 2 run lead to start the game. Then in the bottom of the inning, a ground ball to Barfield was foiled by the Mudhen runner causing most to feel that a runner’s interference would be called. The umpires got together and declared all runners safe. Ryan Sandberg came out and in the process both he and starting pitcher Shoeless Eddie Bonine were ejected. Chance Chapman came in and promptly allowed 3 runs to score in the 2nd. Toledo added another run in the 6th.

Toledo’s pitching then took over, allowing only 5 hits throughout the game. Maybe not a sweep but a 3-1 series and a 5-3 road series is a positive!

Final score Toledo 4 Ironpigs 2

See you tomorrow!

Looking at the Ironpig’s 10 win 5 loss Away record compared to their 8 win 9 loss home record made me think twice.

I then looked at the records of the other teams in the International League:
SWB – 18-13, 6-6 at home, 12-7 away
Pawtucket – 18-14, 8-6 home, 10-8 away
Rochester – 14-16, 9-11 home, 5-5 away
Buffalo – 14-19, 10-10 home, 4-9 away
Syracuse – 11-20, 4-8 home, 7-12 away

In fact, only Pawtucket has an over .500 winning percentage at home for the IL North Division!

Looking at the rest of the league, only Durham (12-4 home), Columbus (10-5 home) and Louisville (10-7 home) have winning records at home. Then you have teams like Toledo who are only 5-11 at home but 10-7 on the road.

Many of these teams, including our very own Ironpigs seem to be playing better baseball away from their home parks..

Not that it means anything, I just thought it was interesting.

***

Tonight the Pigs face off on the 3rd game of 4 with the Mudhens. (Let’s hope their home woes continue) For the Ironpigs, Nate Bump will take the mound vs. Toledo’s Thad Weber. Weber is 1 and 2 in 6 starts with a 5.19 ERA. He’s allowed 11 walks and 7 home runs so far this season.

We will also be continuing the Virtual Road Trip Live Chat thanks to LehighValleyLive.com. The chat begins tonight at 6:30pm and can be joined by following the below link:

http://www.lehighvalleylive.com/ironpigs/index.ssf/2011/05/lehigh_valley_goes_for_third_s.html

Ironpig pitchers have led the way to wins in the first two games in a 4 game set in Toledo.

The Pigs got on the board early with a solo shot by Frandsen putting the Pigs up 1-0.

The Pigs tacked on 2 more in the 7th and that’s all they needed.

Pitcher Brian Gordon hasn’t allowed an earned run in 16.2 innings this season. He went 6.2 innings today striking out 5 and scattering 3 hits. Michael Schwimer came on to pitch 1.1 innings without allowing a hit.

Zagurski came on in the 9th to allow a triple, followed by an RBI single to give Toledo a run and some late hope. A strikeout and a quick double play ended the game and the Pigs win by a final score of 3 to 1.

Of note – Domonic Brown has extended his hitting streak to 15 games, including last season.

The Pigs won a stressfull and defensively exciting game tonight in Toledo by the final score of 1 to 0!

Early in the game, the umpires became a factor in this game. Many, too many to list actually, bad calls could have impacted the game but the Pigs came out looking good and took home the win.

The lone run came on a sacrifice fly by Domonic Brown scoring Rich Thompson. In all the Pigs claimed 12 hits tonight and left an incredible 22 on base. The only other possible run was when Young was called out at home and the replay clearly showed him score.

The pitching did its job tonight, Feierabend with a solid 5.1 innings, Grilli with a 2.2 inning feat striking out 4 of the 8 batters he faced. Perez came on in the 9th.. added a little drama until Erik Kratz picked the runner off second base leading to a strikeout to end the game.

Tomorrow is an early game.. Game time is 10:35 AM. I guess they have education days too.

Tonight was also our 2nd Live Chat Virtual Road Trip! Thanks to all who attended and looking forward to our next live chat on Wednesday evening!

Many thanks to LehighValleyLive.com for setting up the live chats for us!

Come hang out with us in our live chat during tonight’s Ironpigs vs. Mudhens game.

Lehigh Valley IronPigs vs. Toledo Mud Hens

Game starts at 6:30pm and we’ll be chatting about all the good stuff that fans chat about!

See you there!

Today I caught the first half of today’s double header in Columbus and was impressed with a solid 4 to 1 win. I then packed Wally up in the car and headed over to mom. Helped remove an old tree stump and just got home. The second game wasn’t as pretty, the Pigs lost 6 to 12… but I still like what I’m seeing. Here is the Columbus powerhouse splitting a 4 game series at home against the Ironpigs. Splitting a series is a morale boost.. had they taken the series it would have been a serious statement to the rest of the league. Lehigh Valley is no longer the butt of International League jokes.

By now you know the stats and results. They can be found in multiple places so I will look at a more popular topic of late.

Will Chase Utley rehab here in the Lehigh Valley?

I seriously doubt it. I’ve heard many times that Utley does not like playing rehab assignments and when he’s ready he will go straight to the Phillies lineup. We saw this with Ryan Howard just last season. The marketing propoganda went out strong filling Coca Cola Park with 10,000 fans, sharpie in hand and there was no Ryan Howard. Plain and simple, he can easily work on his swing in Clearwater and when he’s ready.. well he’s ready. I don’t feel there will be any pit stops along the way for him to return. That’s how I feel… what do you think?

Tomorrow the team heads to Toledo with a 6:30pm start. We will also be holding our next Virtual Road Trip Chat Room thanks to LehighValleyLive.com!

I’ll be there at 6:30pm to host and feel free to stop by and chat with other baseball fans while listening to the Ironpig’s Radioooo Network.

Until then,
Dan