After rain postponed Tuesday and Wednesday games, the Lehigh Valley IronPigs (37-16) finally played baseball by visiting Harbor Park on Thursday afternoon for a doubleheader against the Norfolk Tides (20-32) to begin a six-game series. In Game 1, Andrew Painter (1-0, 2.25 ERA) was on the mound for Lehigh Valley against Thaddeus Ward (3-3, 5.02 ERA) of Norfolk.
At the top of the second inning, Lehigh Valley left fielder Cal Stevenson brought home Buddy Kennedy with a sacrifice fly to center field for a 1-0 lead. At the top of the third inning, Lehigh Valley third baseman Otto Kemp hit an RBI double to right field scoring Rafael Lantigua for a 2-0 lead. It was Kemp’s 17th double of the season.
Later, Lehigh Valley first baseman Buddy Kennedy hit an RBI double to center field scoring Otto Kemp and it was now 3-0 Lehigh Valley. It was Kennedy’s ninth double of the season. Kennedy finished the afternoon going 3 for 3 with a double, a single, a walk, and two RBIs.
Norfolk came back in the bottom of the fifth inning with an RBI double by Colton Cowser and an RBI single by Jordan Westburg cutting Lehigh Valley’s lead down to 3-2. At the top of the sixth inning, Lehigh Valley got those runs back when Oscar Mercado hit a two-run RBI triple to center field scoring Buddy Kennedy and Gabriel Rincones Jr. for a 5-2 lead. It was Mercado’s first triple of the season. Then, a sacrifice fly by Cal Stevenson scored Mercado and it was now 6-2.
At the top of the seventh inning, Lehigh Valley first baseman Buddy Kennedy and designated hitter Gabriel Rincones Jr. hit RBI singles extending their lead to 8-2. That was all the runs Lehigh Valley needed as they defeated the Norfolk Tides in Game 1 by the final score of 8-2.
The win went to Lehigh Valley starter Andrew Painter for his second win of the season. He pitched five innings, allowing five hits, two runs, one walk, and five strikeouts throwing 81 pitches, of which 49 were strikes.
The loss went to Norfolk starter Thaddeus Ward, and Lehigh Valley relief pitcher Nick Vespi earned his first save of the season. He pitched 1.1 innings with two strikeouts throwing 17 pitches, of which 14 were strikes.
In Game 2, Gabe Mosser (0-0, 0.00 ERA) was on the mound for Lehigh Valley making his debut against Kyle Brnovich (1-3, 6.44 ERA) of Norfolk. In Reading, Mosser’s record is 2-4, with a 5.01 ERA, 50 strikeouts, and 41.1 innings pitched in eight games.
In the bottom of the second inning, a fielder’s choice by Fernando Peguero put Norfolk up 1-0. Jordyn Adams and Coby Mayo hit RBI singles to extend their lead to 3-0. Lehigh Valley’s bats were quiet only managing four hits as they were shut out 3-0. Lehigh Valley first baseman Christian Arroyo finished the game going 2 for 3 with two singles.
Lehigh Valley starter Gabe Mosser lost his first game of the season. He pitched four innings, allowing five hits, three runs, four walks, and one strikeout throwing 71 pitches, of which 43 were strikes. The win went to Norfolk starter Kyle Brnovich and Colin Selby earned the save.
The IronPigs and Tides play game three on Friday at 6:35 pm. Purchase IronPigs tickets today on StubHub and Viagogo.
