After being rained out on Wednesday night, the Lehigh Valley IronPigs (14-14) returned to NBT Bank Stadium for game two against the Syracuse Mets (14-15).
Before the game, the Philadelphia Phillies designated right-hand pitcher James McArthur for assignment and optioned right-hand pitcher Yunior Marte back to the IronPigs.
Noah Skirrow (2-0, 3.00 ERA) was on the mound for Lehigh Valley against Syracuse’s David Peterson (1-4, 7.34 ERA).
In the bottom of the second inning, the Mets took a 1-0 lead on a solo home run by DJ Stewart over the Salt City Deck roof at right field. The speed off the bat was 107 mph. Noah Skirrow got the last three outs to end the inning.
Then, the IronPigs scored four runs in the next three innings. At the top of the third inning with runners on the corners, right fielder Dustin Peterson brought home Jim Haley with a sacrifice fly to right field, tying the game 1-1. Lehigh Valley could not bring any more runs home.
At the top of the fourth inning with runners on first and second base, Lehigh Valley catcher Aramis Garcia hit Peterson’s breaking ball for an RBI single to center field, scoring Jhailyn Ortiz for a 2-1 lead.
Then, Lehigh Valley third baseman Weston Wilson hit a two-run home run off a fastball and over the wall at left field for a 4-1 lead. It was Wilson’s sixth home run of the season.
Lehigh Valley pitcher Noah Skirrow got into some trouble in the bottom of the fifth inning. He gave up a single to Tim Locastro with one out. With Ronnie Mauricio up to bat, Skirrow threw a wild pitch and a disengagement violation moved Locastro to third base. Mauricio brought home Locastro with a sacrifice fly and it was now 4-2 Lehigh Valley. Skirrow got Mark Vientos to ground out which ended the inning.
In the bottom of the sixth inning, Syracuse pulled within one when DJ Stewart hit his second home run of the night over the Salt City Deck at right field. Lehigh Valley’s lead was now 4-3. Skirrow got through the inning without allowing any more damage. He finished the night pitching six innings, allowing five hits, three runs, two walks, and two strikeouts in 89 pitches, of which 60 were strikes.
Lehigh Valley got both runs back in the next two innings when catcher Aramis Garcia hit into a fielder’s choice for a 5-3 lead at the top of the seventh inning, and Jhailyn Ortiz singled on a ground ball to left field, scoring Jake Cave for a 6-3 lead at the top of the eighth inning.
McKinley Moore was the new Lehigh Valley pitcher in the bottom of the eighth inning. Jaylin Davis was up to bat with a runner on second base and two outs, Davis doubled on a sharp line drive to right field, scoring Danny Mendick and it was 6-4 IronPigs.
Erich Uelmen closed out the game for Lehigh Valley in the bottom of the ninth inning. He threw 17 pitches to get the game’s final three outs, and the IronPigs beat the Mets by the final score of 6-4. It’s the IronPigs’ second straight win and they are now 7-3 in their last ten games.
Lehigh Valley had nine hits, went 1 for 6 with runners in scoring position, and left six runners on base. Noah Skirrow picked up his second win of the season, while David Peterson lost his fifth game for Syracuse, and Erich Uelmen earned his first save of the season.
Game three between the IronPigs and Mets is on Friday at 6:35 pm. Tickets for the game are available on StubHub and Viagogo. Also, pick up IronPigs merchandise today at Fanatics.com.
