The Lehigh Valley IronPigs (43-19) took on the Charlotte Knights (30-32) in game five on Saturday afternoon from Truist Field. Nabil Crismatt (4-3, 4.14 ERA) was on the mound for Lehigh Valley against Chris Rodriguez (1-3, 4.95 ERA) of Charlotte.
Charlotte right fielder Dominic Fletcher hit a solo home run to right field in the bottom of the first inning, and an RBI single to center field putting the Knights up 2-0. In the bottom of the third inning, Charlotte third baseman Bryan Ramos hit a solo home run over the wall at right-center field making it 3-0.
In the bottom of the fifth inning, Charlotte catcher Adam Hackenberg hit an RBI single to center field scoring Dru Baker extending their lead to 4-0. Charlotte left fielder Zach DeLoach and second baseman Brooks Baldwin hit solo home runs for a 7-0 lead.
Lehigh Valley showed some life at the top of the ninth inning. They had the bases loaded when left fielder Oscar Mercado hit Nick Nastrini’s four-seam fastball for a grand slam 398 feet to center field and it was now 7-4. Lehigh Valley would get another runner on base but they could not complete the comeback as the IronPigs lose again to the Charlotte Knights by the final score of 7-4. Lehigh Valley have now lost two consecutive games.
The loss went to Lehigh Valley starter Nabil Crismatt. It was his fourth loss of the season. He pitched four innings, allowing five hits, three runs, and one strikeout throwing 54 pitches, of which 36 were strikes. The win went to Charlotte starter Chris Rodriguez.
The IronPigs and Knights conclude the six-game series with a chance to split the series on Sunday at 1:05 pm. Purchase IronPigs tickets today on StubHub and Viagogo.
