The Lehigh Valley IronPigs (32-37) concluded the six-game series at PNC Field on Sunday afternoon against Scranton/Wilkes-Barre RailRiders (34-34). Drake Fellows was on the mound for Lehigh Valley against Elmer Rodríguez of Scranton/Wilkes-Barre.
At the top of the first inning, Felix Reyes worked a four-pitch walk, and Otto Kemp hit a single to center field, moving Reyes to third base. Lehigh Valley first baseman Keaton Anthony hit a sacrifice fly to right field, scoring Reyes for a 1-0 lead. With two outs, Bryan De La Cruz popped out to third base, and the inning was over.
Moving to the top of the third inning with two outs, Lehigh Valley third baseman Otto Kemp hit Rodríguez’s curveball for a solo home run at 390 feet to left field for a 2-0 lead. It was his fifth home run of the season, and the exit velocity off the bat was 103.4 mph. A groundout by Keaton Anthony ended the inning.
In the bottom of the third inning, Scranton/Wilkes-Barre had a runner on second base with two outs when Marco Luciano hit an RBI single to left field, scoring George Lombard Jr., and the RailRiders cut the deficit to 2-1. A lineout by Jonathan Ornelas ended the inning.
At the top of the fourth inning, Lehigh Valley had runners on the corners when Dylan Carlson grounded out to shortstop, scoring Bryan De La Cruz for a 3-1 lead. With two outs, a groundout by Christian Cairo ended the inning.
In the bottom of the fourth inning, Scranton/Wilkes-Barre had runners on first and second base when Ernesto Martinez Jr. hit Fellows’s sinker for a three-run home run at 393 feet to right field, giving the RailRiders a 4-3 lead. It was his 12th home run of the season, and the exit velocity off the bat was 112.3 mph. With two outs, a pop-out by Miguel Palma ended the inning. Drake Fellow went four innings, allowing six hits, four runs, and two strikeouts, throwing 47 pitches, of which 33 were strikes.
Ryan Cusick pitched for Lehigh Valley in the bottom of the fifth inning. Moving to the bottom of the sixth inning with one out, Scranton/Wilkes-Barre designated hitter Tyler Hardman hit Cusick’s four-seam fastball for a solo home run at 378 feet to left-center field for a 5-3 lead. It was his third home run of the season, and the exit velocity off the bat was 97.5 mph. With one out, Kenedy Corona grounded into an inning-ending 6-4-3 double play.
In the bottom of the seventh inning, Scranton/Wilkes-Barre had runners on first and second base with two outs, when Jonathan Ornelas hit an RBI single to left field, scoring Miguel Palma for a 6-3 lead. Cusick was replaced by Kyle Backhus.
With the bases loaded, Backhus struck out Tyler Hardman, and the inning was over. Ryan Cusick went 2.2 innings, allowing four hits, two runs, and two strikeouts, throwing 39 pitches, of which 27 were strikes. Backhus allowed a walk and struck out one, throwing 10 pitches, of which five were strikes.
At the top of the eighth inning, Lehigh Valley designated hitter Dylan Moore hit a double to left field. Left fielder Felix Reyes hit Carlos Lagrange’s sweeper for a two-run home run at 380 feet to left-center field. The IronPigs trailed the RailRiders 6-5. It was Reyes’s 15th home run of the season, and the exit velocity off the bat was 96.5 mph. With two outs, a groundout by Bryan De La Cruz ended the inning.
Kirby Snead pitched for Lehigh Valley in the bottom of the eighth inning. He struck out one, throwing 12 pitches, of which nine were strikes, to get three outs.
At the top of the ninth inning, Lehigh Valley shortstop Christian Cairo worked a four-pitch walk. With one out, Dylan Carlson grounded into a game-ending 4-6-3 double play. The IronPigs lost to the RailRiders 6-5. They split the series 3-3.
Lehigh Valley finished the afternoon with five hits, went 1 for 6 with runners in scoring position, and left three men on base. Felix Reyes went 1 for 3 with a home run, a walk, and two RBIs. The loss went to Lehigh Valley starter Drake Fellows (0-1), while the win went to Scranton/Wilkes-Barre starter Elmer Rodríguez (3-3), and Dylan Coleman earned his second save of the season.
The IronPigs return to Coca-Cola Park to begin a 12-game homestand, starting on Tuesday against the Worcester Red Sox at 6:45 pm on the MLB App.
