Click here to subscribe today or Login.
MOOSIC — J.P. Feyereisen has quietly been one of the Scranton/Wilkes-Barre RailRiders’ steadiest bullpen arms.
He may not have the most saves or strikeouts, or even the best WHIP, but he’s been reliable all season long and Thursday night against the Lehigh Valley IronPigs was just another example.
Feyereisen relieved RailRiders starter David Hale in the fifth inning with two outs and the bases loaded. It took the right-handed reliever just four pitches to get Lehigh Valley designated hitter Matt McBride to fly out to left field and end the threat.
Then, after Zack Zehner’s lead-off double in the bottom of the frame, and the momentum on their side, the RailRiders scored three runs in the inning and rolled to a 3-1 victory over the IronPigs to take the three-game series.
“For pitchers, our goal is to get (our hitters) in the box as much as possible, and to get out of that inning with no damage and get them in the box and they did there job in the next inning,” Feyereisen said. “The momentum switched, and they did a good job with the momentum in their side of it.”
That flyout was just the start of another impressive appearance in what has been an impressive season for the 25-year-old Feyereisen.
In total, Feyereisen pitched 2.1 innings of scoreless baseball. The only IronPig to reach base against him was Joey Meneses, who had a two-out double in the seventh. But Adron Chambers popped out to RailRiders third baseman Ronald Torreyes in foul territory in the next at-bat to end the threat and the inning.
Feyereisen’s ERA fell from 1.69 to a team-best 1.57 after picking up his third win of the season.
“I thought J.P. did a great job coming in relief,” RailRiders manager Bobby Mitchell said. “Getting that final out and then pitching the next (two innings) too. I thought he was really sharp and really came up big for us in the middle of the game.
“We got guys that were pretty solid at the end — you know, that have pitched a lot at the end. J.P. is starting to become that guy that’s the setup man that can really do it for us.”
Facing a 1-0 deficit heading into the bottom of the fifth, Zehner got the RailRiders’ fourth hit of the game with his lead-off double.
From there, Wilkin Castillo bunted the right fielder over to third and L.J. Mazzilli’s RBI single to right field drove Zehner home to tie the game.
After watching Mark Payton leg out an infield single to short, Brandon Drury, who was in the middle of a two-game hittless streak, broke up the tie with a bases-clearing double to the wall in center field.
“Yeah that was good to get some runs on the board and get the team the lead,” Drury said. “It ended up being a big hit, so that’s good.”
Despite not having his best stuff and walking a season-high four batters, Hale was still able to keep the RailRiders in it.
After Collin Cowgill’s solo shot in the first inning, the right-hander was able to pitch out of trouble in the fourth inning and get two outs in the fifth before being replaced by Feyereisen. Hale pitched four innings of one-run ball surrendering five hits and four walks while striking out seven.
“I don’t know. I never felt like I was wild. I didn’t feel wild,” Hale said. “I thought I was kind of wasting pitches, trying to get them to chase. I felt like I was getting ahead of guys and then the next thing I know, it’s like 3-2 and I’m like, ‘Man oh man. How did this even happen?’ No, it wasn’t a wild thing. I got myself into some jams.”
RailRiders 3, IronPigs 1
Lehigh Valley`AB`R`H`BI
Anna ss`5`0`0`0
Cowgill cf`5`1`3`1
Ortiz rf`5`0`0`0
Meneses 1b`5`0`0`0
Chambers lf`3`0`0`0
Plouffe 3b`2`0`0`0
McBride dh`4`0`1`0
Moore c`3`0`0`0
Amarista 2b`4`0`0`0
Totals`35`1`7`1
RailRiders`AB`R`H`BI
Wade ss`4`0`1`0
Payton lf`4`1`1`0
Drury 1b`4`0`1`2
Austin dh`4`0`1`0
McKinney cf`3`0`1`0
Torreyes 3b`3`0`0`0
Zehner rf`3`1`1`0
Castillo c`2`0`1`0
Mazzilli 2b`3`1`1`1
Totals`30`3`8`3
E: Mazzilli (5); DP: IronPigs 1, RailRiders 0; LOB: IronPigs 11, RailRiders 4; 2B: Meneses (14), McBride (6), Wade (12), Zehner (5), Drury (13); HR: Cowgill (7); SB: Cowgill (3), Wade (8).
Lehigh Valley`100`000`000 — 1
RailRiders`000`030`000 — 3
Lehigh Valley`IP`H`R`ER`BB`SO
Irvin (L, 8-3)`7`8`3`3`0`2
Windle`1`0`0`0`0`0
RailRiders`IP`H`R`ER`BB`SO
Hale`4.2`5`1`1`4`7
Feyereisen (W, 3-1)`2.1`1`0`0`0`0
Harvey (H, 3)`1`1`0`0`0`2
Carroll (S, 6)`1`0`0`0`0`0
Umpires: Dan Merzel, HP; Erich Bacchus, 1B; Brian Peterson, 3B.
Time: 2:32; Attendance: 7,961.
