The Lehigh Valley IronPigs (12-10) returned to Coca-Cola Park on Tuesday night to begin a six-game series against the Durham Bulls (8-14). Jean Cabrera was on the mound for Lehigh Valley against Marcus Johnson of Durham.
At the top of the first inning, Durham had the bases loaded when Jean Cabrera walked Justyn-Henry Malloy, and the Bulls took a 1-0 lead. Homer Bush Jr. followed up with a ground ball RBI single to shortstop Christian Cairo. Raynel Delgado scored for a 2-0 lead. With two outs, a flyout by Cooper Bowman ended the inning.
In the bottom of the second inning, Lehigh Valley second baseman Sergio Alcantara worked a four-pitch walk. Center fielder Steward Berroa followed up with an RBI triple to right field. Alcantara scored, and the IronPigs trailed the Bulls 2-1. A sacrifice fly by left fielder Otto Kemp brought home Berroa, and the game was tied 2-2. With one out, Bryan De La Cruz and Garrett Stubbs both grounded out, and the inning was over.
At the top of the second inning, Durham had a runner on second base when Carson Williams hit an RBI single to center field. Jacob Melton scored to give the Bulls a 3-2 lead. With one out, a lineout by Raynel Delgado and Carson Williams was picked off at first base to end the inning.
In the bottom of the third inning, Lehigh Valley first baseman Caleb Ricketts hit Johnson’s slider for a solo home run at 404 feet to right field, and the game was tied 3-3. It was Ricketts’s second home run of the season, and the exit velocity off the bat was 108.5 mph.
Later, Sergio Alcantara was on second base when Bryan De La Cruz hit an RBI double to center field. Alcantara scored to give the IronPigs a 4-3 lead. Garrett Stubbs struck out swinging, and the inning was over.
At the top of the fourth inning, Durham had runners on second and third base when Lehigh Valley starter Jean Cabrera threw a wild pitch. Brock Jones scored, and the game was tied 4-4. Cabrera put two more runners on base before he was replaced by Daniel Harper. With the bases loaded, Harper walked Homer Bush Jr., which made it 5-4, before striking out Blake Sabol to end the inning.
Jean Cabrera pitched 3.2 innings, allowing seven hits, five runs, five walks, and two strikeouts, throwing 85 pitches, of which 42 were strikes.
At the top of the fifth inning, Durham had a runner on third base when Jacob Melton hit an RBI single to left field. Brock Jones scored for a 6-4 lead. Durham did not add any more runs in the inning. Daniel Harper pitched 1.1 innings, allowing two hits, one run, two walks, and two strikeouts, throwing 41 pitches, of which 24 were strikes.
In the bottom of the fifth inning, Lehigh Valley had Caleb Ricketts on third base with one out when Steward Berroa hit an RBI single to left. Ricketts scored, and the IronPigs trailed the Bulls 6-5.
Lenny Torres Jr. was the new pitcher for Lehigh Valley at the top of the sixth inning. Moving to the top of the seventh inning, Durham had runners on second and third base when Jacob Melton hit an RBI double to right field. Blake Sabol scored for a 7-5 lead. With two outs, a flyout by Raynel Delgado ended the inning. Torres Jr. pitched two innings, allowing one hit, one run, one walk, and two strikeouts, throwing 34 pitches, of which 21 were strikes.
In the bottom of the seventh inning, Carter Kieboom was on second base when Caleb Ricketts hit an RBI double to left field. Kieboom scored, and the IronPigs trailed the Bulls 7-6. Sergio Alcantara followed up with an RBI single to right field. Ricketts scored, and the game was tied 7-7. They had runners on second and third base, but Garrett Stubbs lined out to right field, and the inning was over.
Lou Trivino was the new pitcher for Lehigh Valley at the top of the eighth inning. He allowed one hit and struck out one, throwing 19 pitches, of which 11 were strikes. Jonathan Hernandez pitched for Lehigh Valley at the top of the ninth inning. He struck out one, throwing 15 pitches, of which seven were strikes, to get three outs.
In the bottom of the ninth inning, Lehigh Valley first baseman Caleb Ricketts ended the game with a game-winning solo home run at 396 feet to right field for an 8-7 win. It was Ricketts’s second home run of the night, third of the year, and the exit velocity off the bat was 102.6 mph.
Lehigh Valley finished the night with nine hits, committed one error, went 4 for 10 with runners in scoring position, and left four men on base. Caleb Ricketts went 4 for 4 with two home runs, two doubles, and three RBIs, while Steward Berroa went 2 for 3 with a triple, a walk, and a stolen base.
The win went to Lehigh Valley pitcher Jonathan Hernandez (1-0), while the loss went to Durham pitcher Cam Hill (0-1).
The IronPigs and Bulls play game two on Wednesday at 6:35 pm on the MLB App. Bryse Wilson (0-2, 12.71 ERA) will be on the mound against Brody Hopkins (0-1, 2.45 ERA).
