The Lehigh Valley IronPigs (86-59, 40-31) and the Syracuse Mets (75-72, 44-28) played game three from Coca-Cola Park on Thursday night. Griff McGarry (0-0, 0.00 ERA) will be on the mound for Lehigh Valley against Kodai Senga (1-0, 1.50 ERA) of Syracuse.
At the top of the first inning, Syracuse designated hitter Jarred Young hit McGarry’s sinker for a solo home run at 349 feet to left field for a 1-0 lead. It was his 17th home run of the season.
Moving to the bottom of the fourth inning, Lehigh Valley third baseman Rodolfo Castro hit a ground-rule double to left-center field. Christian Arroyo scored, and the game was tied 1-1. It was Castro’s 24th double of the season. Next, a wild pitch by Syracuse starter Kodai Senga brought home Felix Reyes, and the IronPigs took a 2-1 lead.
Lehigh Valley second baseman Erik Brito hit an RBI single to center field. Rodolfo Castro scored for a 3-1 lead. It would lead Syracuse to make a pitching change. With the bases loaded, right fielder Gabriel Rincones Jr. worked a four-pitch walk for a 4-1 lead.
Lehigh Valley starter Griff McGarry pitched five innings. He allowed one hit, one run, two walks, and struck out eight throwing 89 pitches, of which 51 were strikes.
At the top of the eighth inning, Syracuse shortstop Jett Williams hit a sacrifice fly to right field. Luis De Los Santos scored, and it was now 4-2. In the bottom of the eighth inning, Syracuse pitcher Yacksel Ríos threw a wild pitch. Erik Brito scored, and it was now 5-2. Then, first baseman Christian Arroyo hit Ríos’s splitter for a three-run home run at 378 feet to left field for an 8-5 lead. It was Arroyo’s fifth home run of the season.
Seth Johnson pitched for Lehigh Valley at the top of the ninth inning. He did not allow a hit and struck out one in 1.1 innings, as the IronPigs ended a two-game losing streak, defeating the Mets 8-2. With the win, they now have 86 wins, the most in franchise history.
Lehigh Valley finished the night with 10 hits, committed one error, went 3 for 11 with runners in scoring position, and left nine men on base. Christian Arroyo went 2 for 5 with a home run and three RBIs. Erik Brito went 2 for 2 with a walk, a hit by a pitch, and one RBI.
The bullpen pitched 3.3 innings. They allowed two hits, one run, two walks, and three strikeouts. The win went to Griff McGarry. It was his first win of the season, and the loss went to Syracuse starter Kodai Senga.
The IronPigs and Mets play game four on Friday at 7:05 pm.
