The Lehigh Valley IronPigs (52-34) visited NBT Bank Stadium on Tuesday to begin a six-game series against the Syracuse Mets (41-47). Andrew Painter (3-2, 4.57 ERA) was on the mound for Lehigh Valley against Sean Manaea (0-0, 1.69 ERA) of Syracuse.
In the top of the first inning, Syracuse first baseman Jared Young hit Painter’s changeup for a solo home run at 355 feet to right field for a 1-0 lead. It was Young’s eighth home run of the year.
At the top of the second inning, Lehigh Valley shortstop Rodolfo Castro hit Manaea’s sweeper for a three-run home run at 383 feet to left field for a 3-1 lead. It was Castro’s eighth home run of the season.
In the bottom of the second inning, Syracuse designated hitter Joey Meneses hit Painter’s four-seam fastball for a solo home run at 360 feet to right-center field. Lehigh Valley’s lead was down to 3-2.
At the top of the sixth inning, Lehigh Valley got the run back when third baseman Rafael Lantigua hit an RBI single to left field scoring Oscar Mercado for a 4-2 lead. It was Lantigua’s 28th RBI of the season.
In the bottom of the sixth inning with one out, Syracuse had runners on the corners when David Villar hit Painter’s sinker for a three-run home run at 352 feet to left field. The Mets took a 5-4 lead. It was Villar’s fourth home run of the season, and Painter’s night was done. Andrew Painter pitched 5.1 innings, allowing eight hits, five runs, one walk, and three strikeouts throwing 96 pitches, of which 61 were strikes. Nicholas Padilla replaced Painter. Padilla struck out Joey Menese, and Luis De Los Santos lined out to second baseman Donovan Walton to end the inning. Padilla threw 10 pitches, of which seven were strikes.
At the top of the seventh inning, Lehigh Valley had runners on the corners. Justin Crawford stole second base, and Donovan Walton stole home plate, and the game was tied 5-5.
It was all downhill for Lehigh Valley afterward. Francisco Alvarez hit an RBI single to center field scoring Luisangel Acuna for a 6-5 lead. Next, Padilla walked Drew Gilbert and David Villar with the bases loaded, which made it 8-5, and Padilla was done. He pitched 0.2 innings, allowing two hits, four runs, one walk, and one strikeout throwing 30 pitches, of which 17 were strikes.
Daniel Harper was the new pitcher for Lehigh Valley. A groundout by Joey Meneses, a two-run RBI single by Luis De Los Santos, and an RBI triple by Luisangel Acuna made it 12-5. In the bottom of the eighth inning, Syracuse right fielder Drew Gilbert hit an RBI double to right field scoring Pablo Reyes for a 13-5 lead.
Lehigh Valley had a chance to add runs at the top of the ninth inning, but could not score. The IronPigs went on to lose to the Mets by the final score of 13-5. It was their third straight loss.
Lehigh Valley finished the night with nine hits, committed one error, went 5 for 12 with runners in scoring position, and left seven men on base. The loss went to Lehigh Valley starter Andrew Painter. It was his third loss of the season, and the win went to Syracuse relief pitcher Blade Tidwell.
The IronPigs and Mets play game two on Wednesday at 6:35 pm.
