The Lehigh Valley IronPigs (10-7) played game two on Wednesday night at CHS Field against the St. Paul Saints (6-10). Bryse Wilson was on the mound for Lehigh Valley against John Klein of St. Paul.
Before the game, the Philadelphia Phillies recalled Lehigh Valley LHP Kyle Backhus and placed RHP Zack Pop on the 15-day injured list.
The game was scoreless for one and a half innings until the bottom of the second inning. St. Paul had runners on second and third base when Tanner Schobel hit an RBI double to right field. Emmanuel Rodriguez scored to give the Saints a 1-0 lead. With the bases loaded and two outs, a flyout by Walker Jenkins ended the inning.
At the top of the third inning with two outs, Lehigh Valley left fielder Oscar Mercado hit Klein’s four-seam fastball for a solo home run at 364 feet to center field to tie the game 1-1. It was Mercado’s first home run of the season, and the exit velocity off the bat was 104.8 mph. A flyout by Sergio Alcantara ended the inning.
In the bottom of the third inning with two outs and a runner on third base, St. Paul designated hitter Emmanuel Rodriguez hit an RBI double to center field. Kaelen Culpepper scored to put the Saints back up 2-1. A flyout by Orlando Arcia ended the inning.
At the top of the fourth inning with one out, right fielder Bryan De La Cruz hit a single to center field. Designated hitter Felix Reyes followed up by hitting Klein’s four-seam fastball for a two-run home run at 334 feet to right field to give the IronPigs a 3-2 lead. It was Reyes’s fourth home run of the season, and the exit velocity off the bat was 102.2 mph. Raul Brito replaced Klein a short time later. Brito was able to get the last two outs to end the inning.
St. Paul stormed back in the bottom of the fourth inning. With runners on first and second base, Kaelen Culpepper hit a two-run RBI double to right field. Tanner Schobel and Walker Jenkins scored to put the Saints ahead 4-3. An RBI single by Alan Roden and a two-run home run by Gabriel Gonzalez extended their lead to 7-3.
That was it for Bryse Wilson. He was replaced by Andrew Walling. With two outs, Walling struck out Emmanuel Rodriguez to end the inning. Wilson pitched 3.2 innings, allowing nine hits, seven runs, two walks, and four strikeouts, throwing 88 pitches, of which 54 were strikes.
The game got worse for Lehigh Valley in the bottom of the fifth inning. Walling loaded the bases with one out when Walker Jenkins grounded out to catcher Caleb Ricketts. Eric Wagaman scored for an 8-3 lead. With two outs, a pop-out by Kaelen Culpepper ended the inning. Andrew Walling pitched 1.1 innings, allowing a run, three walks, and one strikeout, throwing 29 pitches, of which 13 were strikes.
At the top of the sixth inning, Lehigh Valley right fielder Bryan De La Cruz hit a double to left field. Designated hitter Felix Reyes followed up with an RBI double to left field. Cruz scored, and the IronPigs trailed the Saints 8-4. Third baseman Garrett Stubbs hit a single to left field. Reyes tried to score from second base, but got caught. With two outs and runners on the corners, a groundout by Christian Cairo ended the inning.
Daniel Harper was the new pitcher for Lehigh Valley in the bottom of the sixth inning. Harper allowed a hit, two walks, and two strikeouts, throwing 27 pitches, of which 16 were strikes.
At the top of the seventh inning, Lehigh Valley had runners on second and third base with one out. Right fielder Bryan De La Cruz hit Marco Raya’s curveball for a three-run home run to left field. The IronPigs trailed the Saints 8-7, and it was Cruz’s fourth home run of the season.
With two outs, Garrett Stubbs hit a single to center field. Next, first baseman Liover Peguero worked a four-pitch walk. Caleb Ricketts struck out swinging, and the inning was over.
Jonathan Hernandez was the new pitcher for Lehigh Valley in the bottom of the seventh inning. Hernandez allowed two hits, throwing 20 pitches, of which 12 were strikes, to get three outs.
Trevor Richards was the new pitcher for Lehigh Valley in the bottom of the eighth inning. St. Paul designated hitter Emmanuel Rodriguez hit Richards’s four-seam fastball for a solo home run at 401 feet to right field for a 9-7 lead. It was his third home run of the season, and the exit velocity off the bat was 107.8 mph. Richards allowed a hit, a run, a walk, and a strikeout, throwing 20 pitches, of which 12 were strikes.
At the top of the ninth inning, Steward Berroa and Bryan De La Cruz both hit singles with nobody out. With two outs, first baseman Liover Peguero was called out on strikes, and the game was over. The IronPigs drop the second game to the Saints by the final score of 9-7.
Lehigh Valley finished the night with 12 hits, 3 for 11 with runners in scoring position, and left eight men on base. Bryan De La Cruz went 4 for 5 with a double, a home run, and three RBIs. The loss went to Lehigh Valley starter Bryse Wilson (0-2), while the win went to St. Paul pitcher Raul Brito, and Drew Smith earned his first save of the season.
The IronPigs and Saints play game three on Thursday at 7:37 pm on the MLB App. Alan Rangel (2-0, 1.08 ERA) will be on the mound for Lehigh Valley against Connor Prielipp (0-0, 2.53 ERA) of St. Paul.
