The Lehigh Valley IronPigs (35-42, 0-2) and the Syracuse Mets (40-37, 2-0) played game two on Wednesday night at Coca-Cola Park. Brian Keller was on the mound for Lehigh Valley against Jack Weisenburger of Syracuse.
In the bottom of the second inning, Lehigh Valley had runners on first and second base when Dylan Moore hit an RBI single to left field, scoring Keaton Anthony to put the IronPigs up 1-0. With the bases loaded, Dylan Carlson worked a four-pitch walk, scoring Christian Cairo for a 2-0 lead. Center fielder Steward Berroa grounded into a forceout at second base, scoring Dylan Moore for a 3-0 lead. A pop-out by Felix Reyes ended the inning.
Lehigh Valley starter Brian Keller pitched six scoreless innings, allowing two hits, three walks, and struck out five, throwing 82 pitches, of which 54 were strikes. Michael Mercado pitched for Lehigh Valley at the top of the seventh inning.
Syracuse had runners on first and second base with one out when Tyrone Taylor hit an RBI single to center field, scoring Hayden Senger. The Mets trailed the IronPigs 3-1. After giving up a single, Mercado struck out Nick Morabito and Ryan Clifford to end the inning. Mercado allowed two hits, one run, and struck out three, throwing 22 pitches, of which 17 were strikes.
Tanner Banks pitched for Lehigh Valley at the top of the eighth inning. Banks loaded the bases when Grae Kessinger grounded out to first baseman Keaton Anthony, scoring Cristian Pache, and it was now 3-2. With two outs, Ronny Mauricio hit a two-run RBI single to center field. Yonny Hernández and Ji Hwan Bae scored to give the Mets a 4-3 lead. With two outs, a groundout by Tyrone Taylor ended the inning. Banks allowed three hits, three runs, and one walk, throwing 25 pitches, of which 16 were strikes.
Max Lazar pitched for Lehigh Valley at the top of the ninth inning. Syracuse had a runner when Yonny Hernandez hit an RBI single to shortstop Christian Cairo. A throwing error by Cairo allowed Hernandez to go to second base, and Nick Morabito scored for a 5-3 lead. With two outs, a groundout by Ji Hwan Bae ended the inning. Lazar allowed two hits, one run, and struck out one, throwing 23 pitches, of which 15 were strikes.
At the top of the ninth inning with one out, Lehigh Valley catcher Paul McIntosh hit Ben Simon’s slider for a solo home run at 351 feet to left field, cutting the deficit to 5-4. It was his fourth home run of the season, and the exit velocity off the bat was 106.3 mph. With two outs, a lineout by Dylan Moore ended the game. The IronPigs lost their third straight game by the final score of 5-4.
Lehigh Valley finished the night with four hits, committed four errors, went 1 for 3 with runners in scoring position, and left three men on base. The loss went to Lehigh Valley pitcher Tanner Banks (0-1), while the win went to Syracuse pitcher Ofreidy Gomez (1-0), and Ben Simon earned his first save of the season.
The IronPigs and Mets play game three on Thursday at 6:45 pm on the MLB App. Chuck King (4-4, 4.33 ERA) will be on the mound for Lehigh Valley against Zach Thornton (1-5, 4.25 ERA) of Syracuse.
