The Lehigh Valley IronPigs (79-53, 33-25) played game two on Wednesday night against the Toledo Mud Hens (74-60, 35-24) from Coca-Cola Park. Andrew Painter (4-5, 5.36 ERA) was on the mound for Lehigh Valley against Troy Watson (3-0, 1.45 ERA) of Toledo.
At the top of the first inning, Toledo third baseman Jace Jung hit a sacrifice fly to left field. Parker Meadows scored for a 1-0 lead. In the bottom of the first inning, Lehigh Valley third baseman Otto Kemp hit Watson’s four-seam fastball for a two-run home run at 384 feet to left field to give the IronPigs a 2-1 lead. It was Kemp’s 16th home run of the season.
Moving to the bottom of the third inning, Lehigh Valley right fielder Gabriel Rincones Jr. hit Watson’s four-seam fastball for an opposite-field two-run home run at 355 feet to left-center field for a 4-1 lead. It was Rincones Jr.’s 18th home run of the season.
At the top of the fourth inning, Toledo left fielder Akil Baddoo hit Painter’s slider for a solo home run at 354 feet to left-center field. Lehigh Valley’s lead was now 4-2. It was Baddoo’s 15th home run of the season.
In the bottom of the fourth inning, Lehigh Valley right fielder Gabriel Rincones Jr. grounded out to second baseman Hao-Yu Lee. Justin Crawford scored, and it was now 5-2. It was Rincones Jr.’s third RBI of the night. At the top of the fifth inning, Toledo left fielder Akil Baddoo hit an RBI single to left field. Parker Meadows scored, and it was now 5-3.
At the top of the sixth inning, Toledo right fielder Gage Workman hit Painter’s curveball for a two-run home run at 373 feet to left-center field. The game was tied 5-5. It was Workman’s 11th home run of the season. Next, center fielder Parker Meadows hit an RBI single to right field. Tomás Nido scored, and the IronPigs trailed the Mud Hens 6-5.
Then, left fielder Akil Baddoo hit a sacrifice fly to right field. Parker Meadows scored, and it was now 7-5. Andrew Painter finished the night pitching 5.1 innings. He allowed 10 hits, seven runs, three walks, and five strikeouts throwing 97 pitches, of which 57 were strikes.
In the bottom of the sixth inning, Lehigh Valley shortstop Rodolfo Castro hit Chase Lee’s sweeper for a solo home run at 385 feet to left-center field. The IronPigs trailed the Mud Hens 7-6. It was Castro’s 18th home run of the season.
In the bottom of the seventh inning, Lehigh Valley designated hitter Oscar Mercado grounded out to second baseman Hao-Yu Lee. Christian Arroyo scored, and the game was tied 7-7.
Moving to the bottom of the ninth inning, Lehigh Valley had the bases loaded for catcher Payton Henry. He hit a game-winning RBI single to right field. Gabriel Rincones Jr. scored, and the IronPigs defeated the Mud Hens 8-7 for their sixth straight win.
Lehigh Valley finished the night with 14 hits, committed one error, went 1 for 9 with runners in scoring position, and left seven men on base. Gabriel Rincones Jr. went 2 for 4 with a double, a walk, a home run, and three RBIs. Otto Kemp went 3 for 5 with a home run and two RBIs.
The win went to Lehigh Valley relief pitcher Michael Mercado. He pitched one inning, allowing one hit, one walk, and one strikeout throwing 13 pitches, of which seven were strikes. The bullpen pitched 3.2 innings, allowing two hits, two walks, and three strikeouts. The loss went to Toledo relief pitcher Tyler Mattison.
The IronPigs and Mud Hens play game three on Thursday at 6:45 pm.
