The Lehigh Valley IronPigs (4-1) continued their six-game series against the Durham Bulls (1-4) on Wednesday night from Durham Bulls Athletic Park. Bryse Wilson was on the mound for Lehigh Valley against the Jesse Scholtens of Durham.
Lehigh Valley did not get off to a good start. In the bottom of the first inning, Lehigh Valley pitcher Bryse Wilson got the first two batters out when he struck out Victor Mesa Jr., and a groundout by Tre’ Morgan.
Next, Wilson hit Durham left fielder Justyn-Henry Malloy. During Jacob Melton’s at-bat, Malloy stole second base. Melton would get a base hit to send Malloy to third base. Dom Keegan was up to bat with two outs. During his at-bat, Melton stole second base. Lehigh Valley catcher Caleb Ricketts threw the ball to second base, allowing Malloy to steal home plate. The Bulls took a 1-0 lead.
Dom Keegan hit the ball in the direction of Lehigh Valley third baseman Carter Kieboom. Kieboom scooped up the ball before throwing it past first baseman Felix Reyes. However, second baseman Liover Peguero got the ball to tag Keegan as he was walking back to first base, and was out to end the inning. Jacob Melton scored before the tag, and the Bulls led the IronPigs 2-0.
The night got worse for Bryse Wilson. In the bottom of the third inning, Durham catcher Dom Keegan hit Wilson’s curveball for a solo home run at 435 feet to center field for a 3-0 lead. The exit velocity off the bat was 106.5 mph. Wilson put two more runners on base before Durham designated hitter Blake Sabol grounded out to first baseman Felix Reyes for the first out.
Durham second baseman Cooper Bowman reached first base on a fielder’s choice, scoring Raynel Delgado for a 4-0 lead. After a mound visit, Wilson got Durham right fielder Victor Mesa Jr. to ground out to second baseman Liover Peguero for the second out. Logan Davidson scored to make it 5-0. The inning would come to an end when Wilson struck out Tre’ Morgan with a curveball.
Wilson pitched one more inning. He finished the night going 4.2 innings, allowing four hits, five runs, one walk, and five strikeouts, throwing 85 pitches, of which 57 were strikes.
At the top of the sixth inning with two outs, Lehigh Valley first baseman Felix Reyes hit Hunter Bigge’s slider for a solo home run at 417 feet off the top of the scoreboard at center field. Lehigh Valley trailed Durham 5-1. The exit velocity off the bat was 101.1 mph. It was Reyes’s first home run of the season. A flyout by Bryan De La Cruz ended the inning.
Moving to the bottom of the eighth inning, Genesis Cabrera was the new pitcher for Lehigh Valley. He walked Jacob Melton, and Melton stole second base. Durham catcher Dom Keegan hit an RBI single to center field. Jacob Melton scored for a 6-1 lead. Durham did not add any more runs in the inning.
Lehigh Valley struggled throughout the game and would go on to lose their first game of the season by the final score of 6-1. They finished the night with five hits, committed one error, went 0 for 4 with runners in scoring position, and left three men on base. The bullpen went 3.1 innings, allowing three hits, one run, one walk, and two strikeouts. The loss went to Lehigh Valley starter Bryse Wilson, and the win went to Durham starter Jesse Scholtens.
The IronPigs and Bulls play game three on Thursday at 6:45 pm on the MLB App. Alan Rangel (0-0, 1.93 ERA) will be on the mound for Lehigh Valley against Logan Workman (0-1, 21.60 ERA) of Durham.
