The Lehigh Valley IronPigs (30-35) took on the Scranton/Wilkes-Barre RailRiders (32-32) on Wednesday night at PNC Field. Brian Keller was on the mound for Lehigh Valley against Angel Chivilli of Scranton/Wilkes-Barre.
The game was scoreless in the first three and a half innings. In the bottom of the fourth inning, Scranton/Wilkes-Barre designated hitter Ernesto Martinez Jr. hit Keller’s curveball for a two-run home run at 434 feet to center field to give the RailRiders a 2-0 lead. It was his 11th home run of the season, and the exit velocity off the bat was 103 mph.
With one out, Scranton/Wilkes-Barre center field Duke Ellis hit Keller’s four-seam fastball for a solo home run at 361 feet to left field for a 3-0 lead. It was his third home run of the season, and the exit velocity off the bat was 97.7 mph. With two outs, Miguel Palma popped out to shortstop Christian Cairo for the final out of the inning.
In the bottom of the fifth inning with one out, Brian Keller was replaced by Lou Trivino. Keller went 4.1 innings, allowing four hits, three runs, two walks, and two strikeouts, throwing 66 pitches, of which 40 were strikes. Trivino threw two pitches to get the final two outs of the inning. Trivino went 1.2 innings, allowing one hit, one walk, and one strikeout, throwing 26 pitches, of which 16 were strikes.
At the top of the sixth inning, Lehigh Valley third baseman Otto Kemp hit a single to right field. He moved the second base on a balk called against pitcher Rafael Montero, and third base on a flyout by Keaton Anthony. A groundout by Gabriel Rincones Jr. brought home Kemp, and the IronPigs cut the deficit to 3-1. A groundout by Christian Cairo ended the inning.
At the top of the seventh inning, Bryan De La Cruz worked a four-pitch walk, followed by singles from Carter Kieboom and Dylan Moore with two outs. A flyout by Otto Kemp ended the inning.
Seth Johnson pitched for Lehigh Valley in the bottom of the seventh inning. He went two innings, allowing two hits and four strikeouts, throwing 33 pitches, of which 25 were strikes.
At the top of the ninth inning, Lehigh Valley had runners on first and second base when Felix Reyes hit Dylan Coleman’s cutter for a three-run home run to left field to give the IronPigs a 4-3 lead. It was his 14th home run of the season. With two outs, Otto Kemp struck out swinging, and the inning was over.
Max Lazar pitched for Lehigh Valley in the bottom of the ninth inning. Lazar put a runner on second base with two outs when Kenedy Corona hit an RBI single to center field, scoring George Lombard Jr., and the game was tied 4-4. Corona stole second base, and a throwing error by Paul McIntosh moved him to third base.
Lazar struck out Yanquiel Fernández to retire the side and send the game to extra innings. It was the sixth extra game for Lehigh Valley this year. Lazar allowed two hits, one run, and two strikeouts, throwing 20 pitches, of which 14 were strikes.
At the top of the tenth inning, Kemp started at second base. With the count 1-1, Lehigh Valley first baseman Keaton Anthony hit Coleman’s cutter for a two-run home run at 376 feet to left-center field for a 6-4 lead. It was Anthony’s first home run of the season, and the exit velocity off the bat was 101.5 mph.
Lehigh Valley right fielder Gabriel Rincones Jr. worked a four-pitch walk. Later, he stole second base and advanced to third base on a throwing error by catcher Abrahan Gutierrez. Shortstop Christian Cairo hit a sacrifice fly to left field, scoring Rincones Jr. for a 7-4 lead. The RailRiders replaced Dylan Coleman with Bradley Hanner.
Lehigh Valley catcher Paul McIntosh hit the ball to center field, moving Cairo to third base. Center fielder Dylan Moore hit an RBI single to left field, scoring Cairo for an 8-4 lead. A pop-out by Felix Reyes ended the inning.
Kirby Snead pitched for Lehigh Valley in the bottom of the tenth inning. Yanquiel Fernández started at second base for Scranton/Wilkes-Barre. Oswaldo Cabrera hit a single to move Fernández to third base. With one out, Ernesto Martinez Jr. hit an RBI single to center field, scoring Fernández, and it was now 8-5. With two outs and the bases loaded, Abrahan Gutierrez popped out to third baseman Carter Kieboom for the final out of the game.
The IronPigs completed the late rally comeback with an 8-5 win over the RailRiders to end their two-game losing streak. Lehigh Valley finished the night with 13 hits, committed three errors, went 4 for 16 with runners in scoring position, and left 10 men on base. The win went to Lehigh Valley pitcher Max Lazar (2-1), and the loss went to Scranton/Wilkes-Barre pitcher Dylan Coleman (1-1).
The IronPigs and RailRiders play game three on Thursday at 7:05 pm on the MLB App. Bryse Wilson (3-5, 6.66 ERA) will be on the mound for Lehigh Valley against Brendon Beck (5-2, 3.55 ERA) of Scranton/Wilkes-Barre.
