IronPigs Today: Soggy For The Win 5/22/25

Is it better getting a free umbrella right away, or should the sponsor desire more people in the stadium and a more widely distributed promotional item?  It was a good question for our annual Morning Call umbrella giveaway.  The umbrella is a pretty nice one.  However, I wouldn’t mind a cycle back to some smaller ones next season.  The small ones can come in handy stashed with your game-day gear and such.

(WordPress didn’t process my umbrella video very well.  Golly.)

About Last Night

It was, indeed, Painter Night.  Would they play the game?  Would they bother getting Painter warmed up and pre-game routine and all that if there’s a chance the game could get delayed or postponed?  What if he could only get one inning?  Was the slippery ball a concern for his arm?

Alas, none of it mattered.  The game came off just fine with the multitudes of free umbrellas in the stands, marked with ‘Pigs’s’ in the Hess’s logo design for Salute To Allentown Night (I didn’t see any other salute other than strawberry pie available at the Pizza stand).  In the fourth Painter gave up a run on a single, error, single, but otherwise navigated out of it.  A lead-off triple in the fifth, to a guy who just arrived from New Hampshire, led to the end of the night for Painter.  I believe he was at 73 pitches.  RHP Seth Johnson, part of the current tournament to replace Alvarado, let Painter’s run score as well as a couple of his own.  To his credit, he came back out for the sixth and pitched a clean inning with two strikeouts.  The two-pitch mix as a reliever will look better if his fastball is 97 instead of 94-95, and if the slider was consistently commanded in and out of the zone.  Johnson did put two on in the top of the 7th, but Joel Kuhnel was able to come on and get a double play before Joey Loperfido banked one off the pitcher to chip away at the ‘Pigs lead.  A single and a double-play got Kuhnel out of dodge in the 8th before the game went into a delay and was ultimately declared complete with the IronPigs holding on for an 8-5 win.

Playoff Fever

Even the radio broadcast is getting into it with in-game updates about Jacksonville and Durham.  Durham won and Jacksonville lost, so they both settle in a tie for second, 4.0 games back of the IronPigs who won.  In the West, Nashville won, to maintain a 4.0GB position, while Indianapolis lost, dropping to 5.5 games back.

For us:  Looking ahead we’ve got two road series, at Norfolk (16-28) and at Charlotte (23-34) in a row, followed by two home series to close out the first half.  Those are Worcester (again) and Rochester (again).

The 4.0 game margin is the largest the IronPigs have had, yet still feels quite tenuous.

Buffalo Stuff

LHP Trenton Wallace, whom we had projected to start on Tuesday but instead pitched two innings in relief, was placed on the Development List.  No corresponding transaction listed as of Thursday morning.

Other Recent Articles

Click HERE for some notebook items and a proposal for exploring internal options for bullpen help.

HERE for a series preview with notes about Buffalo and Toronto prospects.

Game Day!

It’s a “Twisted Thursday” with Happy Hour drink specials from 5PM to 7PM.

First Pitch:  6:45PM. All Gates:  5:00PM

Promotion:  Military Night

Weather:  57° with 67% chance of showers at game time.  Winds 5mph.

Pitching:  

IronPigs: RHP Nabil Crismatt (4-2, 3.04)  Looking to bounce back from a difficult outing when the bullpen was taxed.

Buffalo:  LHP Easton Lucas (1-3, 5.48)

Pepperdine product originally a Marlins draft pick. Started the season with the Jays and got abused by Atlanta and Seattle.  Has pitched decently at Triple-A but his last outing was a tough one versus Worcester.  Scouting:  FB 88-92, Above-average Slider, Average curve and change.  Gives up plenty of contact.

Pigs Parlay:  Numbers are not out as of this writing.  However, we’re not doing well here at IronPigs Today and you’re best to fade us right now if you see our recommendations.

See you at the park,

@Kram207

Featured Image by Cheryl Pursell, it was cropped to fit the space.