The Lehigh Valley IronPigs (21-27) played game three on Thursday against the Scranton/Wilkes-Barre RailRiders (25-21) at Coca-Cola Park. Drake Fellows was on the mound for Lehigh Valley against Dom Hamel of Scranton/Wilkes-Barre.
In the bottom of the first inning, Lehigh Valley had the bases loaded when Dylan Carlson worked a four-pitch walk. Steward Berroa scored for a 1-0 lead. With two outs, Dylan Moore was called out on strike, and the inning was over.
Moving to the top of the third inning, Lehigh Valley starter Drake Fellows walked a batter before he was replaced by Max Lazar. Scranton/Wilkes-Barre had runners on the corners when Marco Luciano hit the ball to second base. Marco Luciano reached first base on a fielder’s choice on a throwing error by Robert Moore. George Lombard Jr. scored, and the game was tied 1-1.
Two batters later, Scranton/Wilkes-Barre had the bases loaded when Seth Brown hit an RBI single to right field, scoring Yanquiel Fernández for a 2-1 lead. Ali Sanchez followed up by hitting into a 6-4-3 double play, scoring Marco Luciano for a 3-1 lead.
Ernesto Martinez Jr. was up next. He cleared the bases by hitting Lazar’s cutter for a two-run home run at 378 feet to right field for a 5-1 lead. It was his eighth home run of the season, and the exit velocity off the bat was 99.9 mph. Lazar struck out Duke Ellis to retire the side.
Lehigh Valley starter Drake Fellows pitched two innings, allowing one error, one run, and two walks, throwing 30 pitches, of which 17 were strikes. Max Lazar allowed four hits and four runs, throwing 21 pitches, of which 13 were strikes.
In the bottom of the third inning, Lehigh Valley had a runner on third base when designated hitter Bryan De La Cruz hit Hamel’s sweeper for a two-run home run at 427 feet to left-center field. The IronPigs trailed the RailRiders 5-3. It was Cruz’s seventh home run of the season, and the exit velocity off the bat was 105.3 mph. A flyout by Dylan Carlson ended the inning.
Alan Rangel was the new pitcher for Lehigh Valley at the top of the fourth inning. Yanquiel Fernández hit Rangel’s changeup for a solo home run at 384 feet to right field for a 6-3 lead. It was his 12th home run of the season.
At the top of the fifth inning, Scranton/Wilkes-Barre had a runner on third base when Jonathan Ornelas hit an RBI single to center field. Ernesto Martinez Jr. scored for a 7-3 lead. With two outs, a groundout by Duke Ellis ended the inning.
In the bottom of the fifth inning, Lehigh Valley had a runner on first base when first baseman Felix Reyes hit Hamel’s sweeper for a two-run home run at 421 feet to center field. The IronPigs cut the deficit to 7-5. It was his ninth home run of the season, and the exit velocity off the bat was 107.4 mph. With two outs, a lineout by Dylan Moore ended the inning.
In the bottom of the sixth inning, Lehigh Valley had a chance to take the lead with the bases loaded and two outs, but Felix Reyes flies out to center field, and the inning was over.
At the top of the seventh inning with two outs, Scranton/Wilkes-Barre catcher Ali Sanchez hit Rangel’s four-seam fastball for a solo home run at 426 feet to center field for an 8-5 lead. It was Sanchez’s sixth home run of the season, and the exit velocity off the bat was 106.5 mph. Rangel struck out Ernesto Martinez Jr. to retire the side.
Alan Rangel pitched four innings, allowing four hits, three runs, one walk, and five strikeouts, throwing 72 pitches, of which 40 were strikes. Jackson Rutledge pitched for Lehigh Valley at the top of the eighth inning. Rutledge allowed one walk and struck out one, throwing 13 pitches, of which eight were strikes.
In the bottom of the eighth inning, Lehigh Valley catcher Paul McIntosh worked a four-pitch walk, and Robert Moore hit a double to center field with nobody out. Christian Cairo followed up by hitting a two-run RBI single to right field. McIntosh and Moore scored, and the IronPigs trailed the RailRiders 8-7. Cairo would later steal second base. Lehigh Valley was unable to bring him home.
Lou Trivino pitched for Lehigh Valley at the top of the ninth inning. He allowed three walks, throwing 19 pitches, of which eight were strikes, to get three outs.
Lehigh Valley would go on to lose to the RailRiders by the final score of 8-7. The IronPigs finished the night with nine hits, committed two errors, went 2 for 11 with runners in scoring position, and left nine men on base. Felix Reyes went 2 for 5 with a home run and two RBIs.
The loss went to Lehigh Valley pitcher Max Lazar (0-1), while the win went to Scranton/Wilkes-Barre pitcher Kervin Castro (2-0), and Bradley Hanner earned his second save of the season.
The IronPigs and RailRiders play game four on Friday at 6:45 pm on the MLB App. Bryse Wilson (2-5, 8.20 ERA) will be on the mound for Lehigh Valley against Carlos Lagrange (0-2, 4.23 ERA) of Scranton/Wilkes-Barre.
