Iwakuma pitches Allentown to 6-1 win

Allentown evened their opening round series against Sardine City with a 6-1 win behind a strong outing from Hisashi Iwakuma.

Iwakuma struck out 8 and walked 1 in 8 innings, yielding 4 hits and 1 run for the victory. Hector Santiago tossed a scoreless ninth inning.

The Mules got to Sardine City starter Gerrit Cole early, posting 4 runs in the 2nd without the benefit of a home run. Giancarlo Stanton led off with a double and was immediately driven home by a Jose Abreu single. After Yadier Molina walked, Erick Aybar grounded to short, advancing runners to second and third. Ian Kinsler's infield single to second scored Abreu and put Molina on third.

Jacoby Ellsbury lashed a double down the right field line, scoring Kinsler and Molina, but made the cardinal sin of making the third out at 3rd base. The relay throw from Stephen Piscotty to Evan Longoria via Logan Forsythe ended the inning with the Mules' 3-4-5 hitters due up next (Mike Trout, Stanton and Adrian Gonzalez). Still, Allentown posted  4 runs to jump ahead, 4-0.

The Straphangers responded in the bottom of the second. Their lone run also came on a leadoff home run by Hank Conger cutting the lead to 4-1.

Both pitchers kept things quiet for a few more innings. Cole took the loss and exited after 6 2/3 innings. He gave up 4 runs on 6 hits while striking out 6 and walking 2. Erasmo Ramirez finished up with 2 1/3 innings of relief for Sardine City, yielding 3 hits and 2 runs (1 earned).

In the 8th, Trout socked a solo homer off Ramirez to make it 5-1. And in the 9th, Manny Machado lined a one-out double and later scored on Molina's shot to 3rd that was misplayed by Longoria.

The series now shifts to Allentown for Game 3 on Monday. Veteran Jaime Garcia (15-11, 2.76) gets the call for  the Mules against rookie Joe Ross (9-10, 3.85) for the Straphangers. Game 4 starters are scheduled to be John Lackey (13-12, 3.61) for Allentown and Kyle Gibson (9-13, 4-10) for Sardine City.