The Lehigh Valley IronPigs (42-16) continued their road trip on Tuesday night against the Charlotte Knights (27-31) from Truist Field. Koyo Aoyagi (0-1, 3.29 ERA) was on the mound for Lehigh Valley against Evan McKendry (0-2, 4.29 ERA) of Charlotte.
At the top of the first inning, Lehigh Valley catcher Garrett Stubbs hit an RBI single to center field scoring Otto Kemp for a 1-0 lead. Then, designated hitter Oscar Mercado hit a two-run RBI double to left field scoring Garrett Stubbs and Buddy Kennedy for a 3-0 lead. It was Mercado’s seventh double of the season.
Charlotte answered back in the bottom of the first inning with a home run by Brooks Baldwin and two doubles by Tim Elko and Dominic Fletcher which tied the game 3-3. At the top of the third inning, Lehigh Valley right field Gabriel Rincones Jr. hit McKendry’s cutter for a two-run home run at 419 feet to center field for a 5-3 lead. It was Rincones Jr’s seventh home run of the season.
At the top of the fourth inning, Lehigh Valley shortstop Rodolfo Castro hit McKendry’s changeup for a solo home run at 393 feet to left field for a 6-3 lead. It was Castro’s fourth home run of the season.
Later, Lehigh Valley third baseman Otto Kemp hit McKendry’s sinker for a three-run home run at 410 feet to center field extending their lead to 9-3. It was Kemp’s 14th home run of the season. Kemp finished the night going 2 for 5 with a double, a home run, and three RBIs.
Charlotte would score two more runs with Corey Julks hitting a home run and an RBI double cutting Lehigh Valley’s lead to 9-5. At the top of the ninth inning, Lehigh Valley first baseman Buddy Kennedy hit an RBI single to left field scoring Justin Crawford for a 10-5 lead.
In the bottom of the ninth inning, Charlotte shortstop Jacob Amaya hit an RBI double to right field scoring Dru Baker and it was now 10-6. Lehigh Valley pitcher Joel Kuhnel struck out Brooks Baldwin and got Kyle Teel to ground into a game-ending double play. The IronPigs defeated the Knights by the final score of 10-6 for their fifth consecutive win.
Lehigh Valley starter Koyo Aoyagi pitched two innings, allowing four hits, three runs, one walk, and two strikeouts throwing 40 pitches, of which 26 were strikes. The win went to Lehigh Valley relief pitcher Michael Mercado. He pitched four innings, allowing three hits, one run, and three strikeouts throwing 48 pitches, of which 34 were strikes. The loss went to Charlotte starter Evan McKendry.
The IronPigs and Knights play game two on Wednesday at 6:35 pm. Purchase IronPigs tickets today on StubHub and Viagogo.
