The Lehigh Valley IronPigs (85-59, 39-31) and the Syracuse Mets (75-71, 44-27) played game two from Coca-Cola Park on Wednesday night. Andrew Painter (5-5, 5.35 ERA) was on the mound for Lehigh Valley against Brandon Waddell (3-9, 5.05 ERA) of Syracuse.
In the bottom of the first inning, Lehigh Valley first baseman Christian Arroyo hit an RBI double to left field. Johana Rojas scored for a 1-0 lead. It was Arroyo’s 13th double of the season. Then, left fielder Oscar Mercado grounded out to shortstop Yonny Hernandez. Aidan Miller scored for a 2-0 lead.
Moving to the top of the fourth inning, Syracuse center fielder Carson Benge hit Painter’s curveball for a solo home run at 355 feet to right field. The IronPigs lead was now 2-1. It was Benge’s second home run of the season. Next, third baseman Luke Ritter hit an RBI single to right field. Jose Azocar scored, and the game was tied 2-2.
Then, Syracuse right fielder Gilberto Celestino hit a soft RBI single to shortstop Aidan Miller. Kevin Parada scored, and the IronPigs trailed the Mets 3-2. Lehigh Valley starter Andrew Painter finished the game pitching four innings. He allowed seven hits, three runs, two walks, and six strikeouts throwing 86 pitches, of which 53 were strikes.
At the top of the seventh inning, Syracuse left fielder Jose Azocar hit an RBI single to right field. Jared Young scored, and it was now 4-2. In the bottom of the seventh inning, Lehigh Valley first baseman Christian Arroyo hit an RBI single to left field. Aidan Miller scored, and the IronPigs trailed the Mets 4-3.
Lehigh Valley would go on to lose to the Mets 4-3. They finished the night with eight hits, went 2 for 10 with runners in scoring position, and left seven men on base. Christian Arroyo went 3 for 4 with two doubles and two RBIs. Aidan Miller went 2 for 3 with a walk and a stolen base.
The bullpen pitched five innings. They allowed four hits, one run, four walks, and five strikeouts. The loss went to Lehigh Valley starter Andrew Painter. It was his sixth loss of the season. The win went to Scranton/Wilkes-Barre relief pitcher Austin Warren.
The IronPigs and Mets play game three on Thursday at 6:45 pm.
