The Lehigh Valley IronPigs (32-35) resumed their Thursday night game against the Scranton/Wilkes-Barre RailRiders (32-34) in a doubleheader on Friday afternoon from PNC Field. For Thursday’s game, Bryse Wilson was on the mound for Lehigh Valley against Brendon Beck of Scranton/Wilkes-Barre.
The game was scoreless in the first three innings. Bryse Wilson allowed a hit, two walks, and four strikeouts, throwing 44 pitches, of which 27 were strikes. At the top of the fourth inning, Carter Kieboom struck out before the skies opened up and rain began to fall on the field, sending the game into a delay. The game would later be suspended.
When the game resumed, Bryan De La Cruz hit a single to right field. With two outs, Rene Pinto grounded out to second base, and the inning was over. Michael Mercado pitched for Lehigh Valley in the bottom of the fourth inning. Scranton/Wilkes-Barre third baseman Oswaldo Cabrera hit Mercado’s cutter for a solo home run at 373 feet to right field to put the RailRiders ahead 1-0.
It was his fifth home run of the season, and the exit velocity off the bat was 103.4 mph. With one out, Ernesto Martinez Jr. and Tyler Hardman hit back-to-back singles. Duke Ellis grounded into an inning-ending 6-3 double play.
In the bottom of the fifth inning, Scranton/Wilkes-Barre shortstop George Lombard Jr. hit a double to left field, and right fielder Yanquiel Fernández hit a single to right field, moving Lombard Jr. to third base. With two outs, a wild pitch by Mercado scored Lombard Jr. for a 2-0 lead. Lehigh Valley catcher Rene Pinto successfully picked off Yanquiel Fernández trying to steal second base, and the inning was over. Michael Mercado went two innings, allowing five hits, two runs, and two strikeouts, throwing 40 pitches, of which 24 were strikes.
At the top of the sixth inning, Lehigh Valley had the bases loaded when shortstop Dylan Moore was hit by a pitch, scoring Carter Kieboom. The IronPigs trailed the RailRiders 2-1. First baseman Felix Reyes hit an RBI single to shortstop George Lombard Jr., scoring Bryan De La Cruz. A throwing error by Lombard Jr. allowed Robert Moore and Dylan Moore to score to give the IronPigs a 4-2 lead. With two outs, a flyout by Otto Kemp ended the inning.
Mitch Neunborn pitched for Lehigh Valley in the bottom of the sixth inning. Scranton/Wilkes-Barre had runners on second and third base with two outs when Duke Ellis reached first base on a throwing error by Neunborn. Ernesto Martinez Jr. and Tyler Hardman scored to cut the deficit to 4-3. A flyout by Abrahan Gutierrez ended the inning. Neunborn allowed a hit and a run, throwing 21 pitches, of which 11 were strikes.
At the top of the seventh inning, Lehigh Valley designated hitter Keaton Anthony was hit by a pitch, followed by a single from Carter Kieboom. With one out, Dylan Carlson hit a single that loaded the bases. With two outs, Robert Moore hit an RBI single to right field, scoring Anthony for a 5-3 lead. A flyout by Dylan Moore ended the inning.
Kyle Backhus pitched for Lehigh Valley in the bottom of the seventh inning. George Lombard Jr. hit Backhus’s sweeper for a solo home run to left field. The RailRiders trailed the IronPigs 5-4. It was his third home run of the season. With two outs, the RailRiders had runners on first and second base. Backhus struck out Ernesto Martinez Jr. to retire the side. Backhus allowed three hits, one run, and two strikeouts, throwing 28 pitches, of which 17 were strikes.
At the top of the eighth inning, Otto Kemp worked a four-pitch walk with one out. Designated hitter Keaton Anthony followed up by hitting Carson Coleman’s four-seam fastball for a two-run home run to left-center field. The IronPigs extended its lead to 7-2. It was Anthony’s second home run of the season. With two outs, a flyout by Bryan De La Cruz ended the inning.
Nolan Hoffman pitched for Lehigh Valley in the bottom of the eighth inning. With two outs and a runner on third base, a flyout by George Lombard Jr. ended the inning. Hoffman went two innings, allowing one hit, one walk, and two strikeouts, throwing 37 pitches, of which 24 were strikes, to get the final six outs of the game.
The IronPigs defeated the RailRiders 7-4. Lehigh Valley finished the day with 10 hits, committed one error, went 3 for 17 with runners in scoring position, and left 12 men on base. Keaton Anthony went 1 for 3 with a home run, a walk, a hit by a pitch, and two RBIs. The win went to Lehigh Valley pitcher Michael Mercado (3-2), and the loss went to Scranton/Wilkes-Barre pitcher Yovanny Cruz (5-3).
Before the second game started, the Philadelphia Phillies announced they had recalled outfielder Gabriel Rincones Jr. from Lehigh Valley. In game two, Alan Rangel was on the mound for Lehigh Valley against Adam Kloffenstein of Scranton/Wilkes-Barre.
In the bottom of the first inning, Scranton/Wilkes-Barre shortstop George Lombard Jr. hit Rangel’s four-seam fastball for a solo home run at 403 feet to left-center field for a 1-0 lead. It was his fourth home run of the season, and the exit velocity off the bat was 104.6 mph. With two outs, Oswaldo Cabrera popped out to second baseman Robert Moore, and the inning was over.
At the top of the third inning, Otto Kemp and Keaton Anthony were hit by pitches with one out, while Carter Kieboom worked a four-pitch walk to load the bases. Bryan De La Cruz grounded into a forceout at second base, scoring Kemp, and the game was tied 1-1. A flyout by Christian Cairo ended the inning.
In the bottom of the fourth inning, Scranton/Wilkes-Barre had runners on the corners with one out when Seth Brown grounded into a forceout at second base, scoring Yanquiel Fernández to put the RailRiders ahead 2-1. With two outs, Rangel struck out Jonathan Ornelas to end the inning.
At the top of the fifth inning, Lehigh Valley left fielder Felix Reyes was hit by a pitch. He attempted to confront Adam Kloffenstein, and it led both benches and bullpens to clear out.
There was some pushing and shoving before everyone went back to their dugouts and bullpens. After a long discussion, Lehigh Valley left fielder Felix Reyes, manager Chris Adamson, and Scranton/Wilkes-Barre manager Shelly Duncan were ejected. Dylan Moore replaced Cairo at shortstop, and Cairo went to left field.
With one out, Lehigh Valley first baseman Keaton Anthony hit Kloffenstein’s sweeper for a two-run home run at 381 feet to left-center field to give the IronPigs a 3-2 lead. It was his third home run of the season, and the exit velocity off the bat was 102.1 mph. With two outs, Bryan De La Cruz struck out swinging, and the inning was over.
In the bottom of the fifth inning, Kirby Snead replaced Alan Rangel with two outs. A lineout by Oswaldo Cabrera ended the inning. Alan Rangel went 4.2 innings, allowing five hits, two runs, one walk, and five strikeouts, throwing 70 pitches, of which 52 were strikes.
In the bottom of the sixth inning, Lehigh Valley pitcher Kirby Snead loaded the bases with two outs. He was replaced by Max Lazar. Lazar struck out George Lombard Jr. to retire the side. Snead allowed a hit, three walks, and two strikeouts, throwing 26 pitches, of which 13 were strikes.
At the top of the ninth inning, Lehigh Valley had a runner on first base when Otto Kemp got hit by a pitch, which led to pitcher Peter Strzelecki being ejected. Edinson Duran was the new pitcher for Scranton/Wilkes-Barre. Lehigh Valley designated hitter Carter Kieboom hit Duran’s eephus for a three-run home run at 371 feet to left-center field to give the IronPigs a comfortable 6-2 lead. It was his fifth home run of the season, and the exit velocity off the bat was 95 mph. With two outs, Christian Cairo struck out swinging.
In the bottom of the seventh inning, Scranton/Wilkes-Barre right fielder Jasson Domínguez hit Lazar’s four-seam fastball for a solo home run at 368 feet to right-center field. The RailRiders cut the deficit to 6-3. It was his fifth home run of the season, and the exit velocity off the bat was 102.8 mph. With two outs, Lazar struck out Tyler Hardman, and the game was over.
The IronPigs completed the doubleheader sweep with a 6-3 win over the RailRiders. Lehigh Valley finished the night with five hits, went 1 for 10 with runners in scoring position, and left seven men on base. Carter Kieboom went 1 for 2 with a home run, two walks, and three RBIs.
The win went to Lehigh Valley pitcher Kirby Snead (3-1), while Max Lazar earned his first save of the season, and the loss went to Scranton/Wilkes-Barre starter Adam Kloffenstein (2-5).
The IronPigs and RailRiders play game five on Saturday at 6:35 pm on the MLB App. Chuck King (3-4, 4.88 ERA) will be on the mound for Lehigh Valley against Dom Hamel (2-7, 8.13 ERA) of Scranton/Wilkes-Barre.
