The Lehigh Valley IronPigs (41-46, 6-6) concluded the six-game series against the Rochester Red Wings (51-34, 6-6) on Sunday afternoon at ESL Ballpark. Drake Fellows was on the mound for Lehigh Valley against Chandler Champlain of Rochester.
At the top of the second inning, Lehigh Valley had the bases loaded when Steward Berroa grounded into a forceout at second base. Keaton Anthony scored for a 1-0 lead. Catcher Rene Pinto followed up by hitting a sacrifice fly to left field, scoring Otto Kemp for a 2-0 lead. Robert Moore struck out swinging, and the inning was over.
In the bottom of the third inning with two outs, Rochester designated hitter Abimelec Ortiz hit Fellows’s slider for a solo home run to right-center field, cutting Lehigh Valley’s lead to 2-1. Fellows struck out Brady House to end the inning.
In the bottom of the fourth inning, Rochester had runners on first and second base when Joey Wiemer hit an RBI single to center field, scoring Harry Ford, and the game was tied 2-2. Trey Lipscomb followed up by hitting a sacrifice fly to right field, scoring Andrew Pinckney to give the Red Wings a 3-2 lead.
With one out, Cayden Wallace grounded into an inning-ending 6-4-3 double play. Drake Fellows went five innings, allowing five hits, three runs, two walks, and two strikeouts, throwing 81 pitches, of which 51 were strikes.
Brad Keller pitched for Lehigh Valley in the bottom of the sixth inning. He struck out one, throwing 12 pitches, of which nine were strikes, to get three outs. Tucker Davidson pitched for Lehigh Valley in the bottom of the seventh inning.
At the top of the eighth inning, Robert Moore and Christian Cairo worked four-pitch walks. Felix Reyes followed by hitting an RBI single to left field, scoring Moore that tied the game 3-3 with nobody out. It would lead to a pitching change by Rochester. With one out, Otto Kemp hit into an inning-ending 4-2-5 double play. Tucker Davidson went two innings, allowing a hit, a walk, and striking out three, throwing 35 pitches, of which 22 were strikes.
At the top of the ninth inning, Lehigh Valley had the bases loaded with nobody out when Robert Moore hit a two-run RBI single to right field, scoring Payton Henry and Steward Berroa for a 5-3 lead. With one out, Tommy Phan grounded into a 6-4-3 inning-ending double play.
Max Lazar pitched for Lehigh Valley in the bottom of the ninth inning. Lazar struck out two, throwing 14 pitches, of which 10 were strikes, to get the final three outs of the game. The IronPigs take the series with a 5-3 win over the Red Wings.
Lehigh Valley finished the afternoon with seven hits, went 3 for 8 with runners in scoring position, and left seven men on base. Robert Moore went 1 for 3 with a walk and two RBIs. The win went to Lehigh Valley pitcher Tucker Davidson (5-3), while Max Lazar earned his second save of the season, and the loss went to Rochester pitcher Gus Varland (0-1).
The IronPigs return to Coca-Cola Park to begin a six-game series starting on Tuesday against the Columbus Clippers at 11:35 am on the MLB App.
