The Lehigh Valley IronPigs (29-12) and the Syracuse Mets (18-23) played game two on Wednesday afternoon from NBT Bank Stadium for Education Day. Alan Rangel (2-0, 4.93 ERA) was on the mound for Lehigh Valley against Brandon Sproat (1-3, 4.82 ERA) of Syracuse.
Things did not go well for Lehigh Valley early in the game. A two-run double by Gilberto Celestino in the bottom of the second inning, and a three-run home run by Joey Meneses put Syracuse up 5-0.
Lehigh Valley got on the board at the top of the fourth inning when right fielder Gabriel Rincones Jr. hit Sproat’s sweeper for a solo home run 372 feet to right field. It was now 5-1 Syracuse. Then, first baseman Buddy Kennedy hit Sproat’s slider for a solo home run 350 feet to left field. Lehigh Valley trailed Syracuse 5-2. It was Kennedy’s third home run of the season.
The Mets got those runs back in the bottom of the fourth inning on an RBI single from Jared Young and a Drew Gilbert groundout into a double play made it 7-2.
Lehigh Valley started to gain momentum at the top of the fifth inning with the bases loaded. Right fielder Gabriel Rincones Jr. hit Sproat’s changeup for a grand slam 365 feet to left-center field. It was Rincones Jr.’s second home run of the day, and the IronPigs trailed the Mets 7-6. It was also Rincones Jr.’s fifth home run of the season.
The Mets would get two of those runs back in the bottom of the fifth inning when Luis De Los Santos hit a sacrifice bunt to pitcher Koyo Aoyagi. Aoyagi made a throwing error, and it was now 8-6 Syracuse.
At the top of the eighth inning, Lehigh Valley shortstop Rodolfo Casto tied the game hitting Chris Devenski’s Sweeper 362 feet to left field for an 8-8 game. It was Castro’s third home run of the season.
Lehigh Valley went on a tear at the top of the tenth inning. Second baseman Rafael Lantigua got the scoring started with a two-run RBI double to right field for a 10-8 lead. Next, third baseman Otto Kemp hit an RBI single to left field scoring Lantigua for an 11-8 lead, followed by a two-run single from Buddy Kennedy for a 13-8 lead.
Lehigh Valley catcher Garrett Stubbs cleared the bases with a three-run home run at 369 feet to right-center field for a 16-8 lead. It was his fourth home run of the season. Finally, left fielder Cal Stevenson hit a two-run home run at 336 feet to left field and the IronPigs defeated the Mets by the final score of 18-8.
The IronPigs scored 10 runs at the top of the tenth inning, which tied the franchise record for the most runs scored in an inning. The last time that happened was against Syracuse on July 26, 2023. They also hit six home runs in this game, which has not happened since June 14, 2019.
Lehigh Valley starter Alan Rangel pitched three innings, allowing four hits, five runs, three walks, and two strikeouts throwing 59 pitches, of which 34 were strikes. The win went to relief pitcher Brett de Geus for his third win of the season. He pitched two innings with one strikeout in 20 pitches, of which 14 were strikes. The loss went to Syracuse pitcher Grant Hartwig.
The IronPigs and Mets play game three on Thursday at 6:35 pm. Purchase IronPigs tickets today on StubHub and Viagogo.
