After rain postponed Wednesday night’s game, the Lehigh Valley IronPigs (16-14) and the Syracuse Mets (16-13) played a doubleheader at NBT Bank Stadium on Thursday. In game one, Bryse Wilson was on the mound for Lehigh Valley against Jack Wenninger of Syracuse.
In the bottom of the first inning, Syracuse had a runner on third base when Christian Arroyo hit an RBI single to right field. A.J. Ewing scored for a 1-0 lead. With two outs, a groundout by Vidal Brujan ended the inning.
Moving to the bottom of the third inning, Syracuse had the bases loaded with one out when Vidal Brujan grounded into a forceout at second base. A throwing error by Sergio Alcantara scored A.J. Ewing and Nick Morabito for a 3-0 lead. Ji Hwan Bae followed up with an RBI double to center field, scoring Brujan for a 4-0 lead. Two batters later, Hayden Senger hit an RBI single to right field. Ji Hwan Bae scored to make it 5-0. A groundout by Jackson Cluff ended the inning.
At the top of the fifth inning, Lehigh Valley had a chance to score some runs with the bases loaded with two out, but Oscar Mercado was called out on strikes, and the inning was over.
In the bottom of the fifth inning, Syracuse had a runner on first base when Vidal Brujan hit an RBI double to right field. Christian Arroyo scored for a 6-0 lead. Three batters later, Hayden Senger grounded out to second base, with Brujan scoring for a 7-0 lead. With two outs, a groundout by Jackson Cluff ended the inning.
Lehigh Valley starter Bryse Wilson pitched five innings, allowing 10 hits, seven runs, and four strikeouts, throwing 88 pitches, of which 58 were strikes. Génesis Cabrera was the new pitcher for Lehigh Valley in the bottom of the sixth inning. He allowed one walk and struck out two, throwing 18 pitches, of which 10 were strikes, to get three outs.
At the top of the ninth inning, Lehigh Valley had a runner on first base with one out when Oscar Mercado grounded into a game-ending 1-4-3 double play. The IronPigs lost game one to the Mets 7-0.
Lehigh Valley had four hits, committed two errors, went 0 for 5 with runners in scoring position, and left six men on base. The loss went to Lehigh Valley starter Bryse Wilson (1-3), and the win went to Syracuse starter Jack Wenninger (2-1).
In game two, Chuck King was on the mound for Lehigh Valley against Daniel Duarte of Syracuse.
The game was scoreless for three and a half innings until the bottom of the fourth inning. Syracuse had a runner on second base when Ji Hwan Bae hit an RBI double to right field. Vidal Brujan scored for a 1-0 lead. Cristian Pache struck out, and flyouts by Yonny Hernandez and Ben Rortvedt ended the inning.
In the bottom of the fifth inning, Syracuse had a runner on first base when Nick Morabito hit an RBI double to center field. A.J. Ewing scored for a 2-0 lead. With one out, a groundout by Ryan Clifford, and Vidal Brujan struck out swinging to end the inning.
At the top of the sixth inning, Lehigh Valley had the bases loaded with one out. Designated hitter Otto Kemp hit a sacrifice fly to right field. Steward Berroa scored, and the IronPigs cut the deficit to 2-1. With runners on the corners and two outs, Carter Kieboom hit an RBI single to right field. Steward Berroa scored, and the game was tied 2-2. Liover Peguero was called out on strikes, and the inning was over.
Charlie King pitched five innings, allowing six hits, two runs, and six strikeouts, throwing 73 pitches, of which 52 were strikes. Seth Johnson was the new pitcher for Lehigh Valley in the bottom of the sixth inning. Johnson allowed a hit and struck out two, throwing 17 pitches, of which 12 were strikes, to get three outs.
Lou Trivino was the new pitcher for Lehigh Valley in the bottom of the seventh inning. Trivino struck out two, throwing nine pitches, of which seven were strikes, to get three outs.
At the top of the eighth inning, Lehigh Valley had a runner on third base with one out when Bryan De La Cruz hit a sacrifice fly to left field. Christian Cairo scored to give the IronPigs a 3-2 lead. Otto Kemp hit a triple to right field, but a groundout by Carter Kieboom ended the inning.
In the bottom of the eighth inning, Syracuse had a runner on second base when Vidal Brujan hit an RBI double to left field. Nick Morabito scored, and the game was tied 3-3. Brujan was caught sleeping at second base for the second out. Trivino struck out Ji Hwan Bae to end the inning.
Lou Trivino pitched two innings, allowing a hit, a run, and four strikeouts, throwing 19 pitches, of which 15 were strikes. Lenny Torres Jr. was the new pitcher for Lehigh Valley in the bottom of the ninth inning. Syracuse had a runner on third base with two outs when Ben Rortvedt hit the game-winning RBI single to center field, and IronPigs lost game two by the final score of 4-3.
Lehigh Valley finished the night with five hits, committed one error, went 1 for 9 with runners in scoring position, and left eight men on base. The loss went to Lehigh Valley pitcher Lenny Torres Jr. (0-1), and the win went to Syracuse pitcher Mike Baumann (1-1).
The IronPigs and Mets play game four on Friday at 6:35 pm on the MLB App. Lehigh Valley has yet to name a starter, while Syracuse will have Bryce Conley (0-1, 3.06 ERA) on the mound.
