The Lehigh Valley IronPigs (44-48, 9-8) took on the Columbus Clippers (50-41, 8-9) in game five on Saturday night at Coca-Cola Park. Chuck King was on the mound for Lehigh Valley against Logan Allen of Columbus.
In the bottom of the first inning, Lehigh Valley had runners on first and second base when Keaton Anthony hit an RBI single to right field, scoring Dylan Moore for a 1-0 lead. With that hit, Anthony extended his hitting streak to nine games. Later, Lehigh Valley had the bases loaded when Carter Kieboom was hit by a pitch, scoring Felix Reyes for a 2-0 lead.
Lehigh Valley second baseman Liover Peguero followed up by hitting an RBI double to shortstop, scoring Keaton Anthony and Otto Kemp for a 4-0 lead. With two outs, a groundout by Payton Henry ended the inning.
Moving to the top of the fourth inning with two outs, Columbus first baseman Kody Huff hit King’s changeup for a solo home run at 409 feet to left-center field, cutting the lead to 4-1. It was his 12th home run of the season. A flyout by Dayan Frias ended the inning.
Lehigh Valley starter Chuck King went five innings, allowing two hits, one run, five walks, and five strikeouts, throwing 89 pitches, of which 50 were strikes. Tucker Davidson pitched for Lehigh Valley at the top of the sixth inning. Davidson went two innings, allowing two hits and striking out one, throwing 38 pitches, of which 27 were strikes.
Jackson Rutledge pitched for Lehigh Valley at the top of the eighth inning. He allowed a hit and struck out two, throwing 16 pitches, of which nine were strikes. In the bottom of the eighth inning, Lehigh Valley had a runner on second base when Carter Kieboom hit an RBI double to right field, scoring Otto Kemp for a 5-1 lead. Kieboom advanced to third base on a wild pitch and scored on a wild pitch for a 6-1 lead. Payton Henry grounded into a forceout at second base for the final out of the inning.
Grant Holman pitched for Lehigh Valley at the top of the ninth inning. With two outs, C.J. Kayfus hit a two-run RBI triple to center field, scoring Joe Lampe and C.J. Kayfus, and it was now 6-3. Holman struck out Bo Naylor to end the game. The IronPigs defeated the Clippers 6-3 to take the series lead. Holman allowed two hits, two runs, and struck out two, throwing 12 pitches, of which 10 were strikes.
Lehigh Valley finished the night with eight hits, committed two errors, went 4 for 7 with runners in scoring position, and left six men on base. Carter Kieboom went 2 for 3 with a double, a hit by a pitch, and two RBIs, while Liover Peguero went 2 for 3 with a double, a walk, and two RBIs. The win went to Lehigh Valley starter Chuck King (6-3), and the loss went to Columbus starter Logan Allen (4-3).
The IronPigs will go for the series win against the Clippers on Sunday at 1:15 pm on the MLB App and Bally Sports Live. Drake Fellows (0-1, 4.91 ERA) will be on the mound for Lehigh Valley against Trenton Denholm (8-2, 4.05 ERA) of Columbus.
