The Lehigh Valley IronPigs (21-26) played game two on Wednesday morning against the Scranton/Wilkes-Barre RailRiders (24-21) at Coca-Cola Park. Tucker Davidson was on the mound for Lehigh Valley against Adam Kloffenstein of Scranton/Wilkes-Barre.
In the bottom of the third inning, Lehigh Valley had a runner on second base when first baseman Felix Reyes hit Kloffenstein’s sinker for a two-run home run at 426 feet to left field for a 2-0 lead. It was his seventh home run of the season, and the exit velocity off the bat was 111.5 mph.
In the bottom of the fourth inning, Bryan De La Cruz and Dylan Carlson worked four-pitch walks. Liover Peguero followed up by hitting a two-run RBI double to left field, scoring Cruz and Carlson for a 4-0 lead. It was Peguero’s 16th double of the season.
Two batters later, Robert Moore hit an RBI double to right field, scoring Peguero for a 5-0 lead. Christian Cairo followed up by hitting an RBI single to right field, scoring Peguero for a 6-0 lead. With two outs, Felix Reyes hit an RBI single to third base, scoring Cairo for a 7-0 lead. Reyes tried to run to second base, but was called out, and the inning was over.
Lehigh Valley starter Tucker Davidson pitched five scoreless innings, allowing three hits, three walks, and four strikeouts, throwing 86 pitches, of which 50 were strikes. Michael Mercado pitched for Lehigh Valley at the top of the sixth inning. With one out, Seth Brown hit Mercado’s four-seam fastball for a solo home run at 405 feet to right field.
The IronPigs led the RailRiders 7-1. It was Brown’s seventh home run of the season, and the exit velocity off the bat was 100.7 mph. Mercado allowed one hit and one run, throwing 18 pitches, of which 10 were strikes, to get three outs.
Nolan Hoffman pitched two innings for Lehigh Valley, allowing two hits, one walk, and two strikeouts, throwing 29 pitches, of which 18 were strikes, to get six outs.
In the bottom of the eighth inning, Lehigh Valley right fielder Bryan De La Cruz hit Harrison Cohen’s cutter for a solo home run at 376 feet to left field for an 8-1 lead. It was Cruz’s sixth home run of the season, and the exit velocity off the bat was 98.6 mph.
Dylan Carlson and Liover Peguero hit singles, followed by Caleb Ricketts hitting an RBI single to left field, scoring Carlson for a 9-1 lead. Robert Moore followed up by hitting a two-run RBI triple to right field that made it 11-1.
With two outs, a wild pitch by Cohen allowed Moore to score for a 12-1 lead. Felix Reyes was next. He hit Cohen’s cutter for a solo home run at 347 feet to right field for a 13-1 lead. It was his second home run of the day, eighth home run of the season, and the exit velocity off the bat was 96.5 mph. A flyout by Carter Kieboom ended the inning.
Seth Johnson pitched for Lehigh Valley at the top of the ninth inning. He struck out one, throwing eight pitches, of which six were strikes, to get the final three outs of the game. The IronPigs ended a four-game losing streak by beating the RailRiders 13-1.
Lehigh Valley finished the afternoon with 11 hits, committed two errors, went 7 of 13 with runners in scoring position, and left three men on base. Felix Reyes went 3 for 5 with two home runs and four RBIs, and Robert Moore went 2 for 3 with a walk, a double, a triple, and three RBIs. The win went to Lehigh Valley starter Tucker Davidson (3-1), and the loss went to Scranton/Wilkes-Barre starter Scranton/Wilkes-Barre (1-2).
The IronPigs and RailRiders play game three on Thursday at 6:45 pm on the MLB App. Alan Rangel (2-4, 2.74 ERA) will be on the mound for Lehigh Valley against Dom Hamel (1-6, 8.67 ERA) will be on the mound for Scranton/Wilkes-Barre.
