The name of this website, Top Level of the Minors, comes not only from the proximity of Triple-A baseball and AHL Hockey to MLB Baseball and NHL Hockey respectively, but also the strength of our local organizations and our local fan base in the Lehigh Valley. Last night was a unique night for Lehigh Valley sports fans as the Phantoms hosted a playoff hockey game at the same time as an IronPigs game right across the river.
The late der Eishockeyzuschauer (né Iron Pigpen, on the NoiseNation pages) and I used to have a standing wager about attendance between baseball and hockey. Honestly, I cannot remember the terms. But, I believe I was on the baseball side while he felt that playoff hockey would easily out-draw April baseball. So in his memory, I pulled up the attendance from last night. IronPigs 9,659; Phantoms 6965. The caveat is that two of the IronPigs attendees were me, and I wasn’t there; my seats were empty but counted as paid. Almost all of the Phantoms paid attendance was present. Attendance had been weak all week, but seems like it was pretty good last night. That, and almost 17,000 people had professional sports tickets in the Lehigh Valley last night! Maybe the A’s should think about playing here! Anyway, RIP d.E.
About Last Night
While the Phantoms were winning their playoff game and advancing to the next round of the Calder Cup tournament, the IronPigs were just out there taking care of business and defeating a reasonably good Columbus team again, 11-3, for the fourth straight time this week. The IronPigs are on a 5-game winning streak, 18-7 overall, and still 1.0 games back of Jacksonville as Jacksonville have been pounding Gwinnett all week.
The IronPigs took Columbus lefty starter Will Dion out behind the wood shed right away, taking a 5-0 lead in the first inning. They added four more runs off lefty reliever Andrew Misiaszek and were off to the races. The multi-hit club included Justing Crawford with 2 including a double, Otto Kemp with four including three doubles, Garrett Stubbs with two, Óscar Mercado with 2 including a homer, Erick Brito with 3, bringing his average up to .355 on the season, and Cade Furgus who came off the bench and mashed a dinger because that’s just what he does these days.
On the pitching side we saw evidence of what had been propositioned and speculated about for a while: Seth Johnson, reliever. He pitched again last night in relief, one inning, struck out the side around a walk. McMillon the “stuff-merchant” continues to miss bats but also misses other things like the plate, and the catchers glove. Aoyagi with yet another good inning, and Kyle Tyler took the win.
Updates and Resources
The only significant roster news is that rehabbing LHP Ranger Suarez had been removed as the probable starter on Sunday and replaced with ‘TBA’ but is now listed as the probable again. Keep an eye on it.
Brandon Marsh should be here tonight and tomorrow as well. They’ll probably want him to play a full game, but the “Cade Fergus mashes dingers” part is still a lot of fun.
Printable Roster: 042225 LHV Roster
Columbus series preview: HERE
GAME DAY!
It’s not Saturday, it’s CAT-urday! Bring you cat to the park if you want.
Game Time: 6:35PM
Gates (East/Center): 5:15PM
Club: 5:30PM
Batting Practice (Season Tickets, talk to your ticket rep): 4:15PM
Promotions:
- Cats in the park night (insert own joke here)
- Dance Night: Dance performances
Pitching:
Lehigh Valley RHP Alan Rangel (2-0, 3.57) versus Columbus LHP Kolby Allard (0-0, 4.86)
You’ll recall Allard was brought in by the Phillies as a former first-round pick who could be starting depth for the big club. Unfortunately, he was less than successful–even to the point where they went, “Hey, we could make Michael Mercado a starter.” Then, he wasn’t good as a reliever either, and he found himself in Double-A Reading. That didn’t start well, but it did get better, and he re-emerged as a starter with the IronPigs. Never heard exactly what changed or what happened, but he did end up doing OK and contributing to the Phillies as well.
Weather:
Clouds and showers should clear by game time, but it will remain windy and cool. Wear a hoodie and a jacket if you’re sensitive to wind. Perhaps a hat.
See you at the park,
@Kram207