The Lehigh Valley IronPigs (53-36) played game four on Friday night against the Syracuse Mets (43-48) at NBT Bank Stadium. Alan Rangel (5-2, 4.96 ERA) was on the mound for Lehigh Valley against Colin Poche (0-1, 3.95 ERA) of Syracuse.
At the top of the third inning, a groundout by Lehigh Valley third baseman Rafael Lantigua scored Rodolfo Castro for a 1-0 lead. Then, designated hitter Weston Wilson hit the ball to Syracuse third baseman Luke Ritter. Ritter made a fielding error, allowing Matt Kroon to score for a 2-0 lead.
In the bottom of the fourth inning, Syracuse designated hitter Francisco Alvarez hit Rangel’s four-seam fastball for a solo home run at 408 feet to center field. Lehigh Valley now led Syracuse 2-1. In the bottom of the fifth inning, Syracuse left fielder José Azocar tied the game 2-2 with an RBI single to left field scoring Luke Ritter.
At the top of the seventh inning, Lehigh Valley shortstop Rodolfo Castro hit Dom Hamel’s sweeper for a solo home run at 362 feet to left-center field for a 3-2 lead.
It was Castro’s tenth home run of the year. Next, right fielder Matt Kroon hit Hamel’s four-seam fastball for a solo home run at 388 feet to left-center field for a 4-2 lead. It was Kroon’s first home run of the season.
In the bottom of the seventh inning, Syracuse had the bases loaded when Lehigh Valley pitcher Lucas Sims hit Francisco Alvarez, and pitcher Phil Bickford hit Pablo Reyes. The game was tied again 4-4.
At the top of the eighth inning, Lehigh Valley left fielder Oscar Mercado hit Felipe De La Cruz’s sinker for a two-run home run at 372 feet to left field, giving the IronPigs a 6-4 lead. It was Mercado’s eighth home run of the season.
Once again, Lehigh Valley could not hold onto the lead in the bottom of the eighth inning. Syracuse left fielder José Azocar hit a two-run RBI double to left field scoring David Villar and Luke Ritter, and the game was tied 6-6. The game remained tied and went to extra innings.
At the top of the tenth inning, Lehigh Valley shortstop Rodolfo Castro hit the ball that struck Syracuse pitcher Felipe De La Cruz on the left leg and Payton Henry scored for a 7-6 lead. De La Cruz was down for several minutes. Trainers helped him up and he gingerly walked to the dugout.
In the bottom of the tenth inning, Syracuse third baseman Luke Ritter hit an RBI single to center field scoring Drew Gilbert, and the game was tied again 7-7. Syracuse would end it when second baseman Yonny Hernández hit the game-winning RBI single to left field scoring Luke Ritter. The IronPigs lose in extra innings to the Mets by the final score of 8-7.
Lehigh Valley finished the night with 10 hits, went 3 for 16 with runners in scoring position, and left eight men on base. Lehigh Valley starter Alan Rangel pitched six innings, allowing six hits, two runs, and seven strikeouts throwing 98 pitches, of which 68 were strikes.
The loss went to Lehigh Valley relief pitcher Daniel Harper, and the win went to Syracuse relief pitcher Douglas Orellana. Lehigh Valley’s bullpen allowed six hits, six runs, two walks, and three strikeouts.
The IronPigs and Mets play game five on Saturday at 6:35 pm.
