The Lehigh Valley IronPigs (87-60, 41-32) played game five on Saturday night against the Syracuse Mets (76-73, 45-29) from Coca-Cola Park. Gabe Mosser (4-5, 5.35 ERA) was on the mound for Lehigh Valley against Justin Hagenman (2-4, 6.02 ERA) of Syracuse.
At the top of the second inning, Syracuse third baseman Luis De Los Santos hit Mosser’s curveball for a three-run home run at 417 feet to left field to give the Mets a 3-0 lead. It was Santos’s eighth home run of the season.
In the bottom of the fourth inning, Lehigh Valley center fielder Oscar Mercado hit an RBI single to left field. Payton Henry scored, and the IronPigs trailed the Mets 3-1. It was Mercado’s 64th RBI of the season.
Lehigh Valley starter Gabe Mosser pitched six innings. He allowed six hits, three runs, two walks, and six strikeouts, throwing 92 pitches, of which 51 were strikes. In the bottom of the sixth inning, Lehigh Valley catcher Payton Henry hit Kevin Herget’s four-seam fastball for a solo home run at 389 feet to right-center field. The IronPigs trailed the Mets 3-2. It was Henry’s 11th home run of the season.
Moving to the bottom of the eighth inning, Lehigh Valley third baseman Luis Verdugo hit an RBI single to right field. Josh Breaux scored, and the IronPigs tied the game 3-3.
Next, Oscar Mercado grounded out to second baseman Yonny Hernandez. Payton Henry scored, and the IronPigs took a 4-3 lead. Then, Gabriel Rincones Jr. hit an RBI single to left field. Luis Verdugo scored for a 5-3 lead.
Nolan Hoffman pitched for Lehigh Valley at the top of the ninth inning. Hoffman allowed one hit, one walk, and struck out one, throwing 19 pitches, of which 11 were strikes, as the IronPigs defeated the Mets 5-3.
Lehigh Valley finished the night with 12 hits, committed one error, went 3 for 10 with runners in scoring position, and left 11 men on base. Payton Henry went 2 for 3 with a home run, a walk, and one RBI. Oscar Mercado went 2 for 5 with two RBIs.
The bullpen pitched three innings. They allowed one hit, two walks, and two strikeouts. The win went to Lehigh Valley relief pitcher Tim Walding. It was his first win of the season. He pitched one inning with one walk and two strikeouts, throwing 22 pitches, of which 11 were strikes. Nolan Hoffman earned his fifth save of the season.
The IronPigs close out the regular season on Sunday against the Mets at 1:05 pm.
