The Lehigh Valley IronPigs (47-53, 12-13) played game four against the Indianapolis Indians (47-53, 16-9) on Friday night at Victory Field. Drake Fellows was on the mound for Lehigh Valley against Noah Murdock of Indianapolis.
In the bottom of the second inning, Indianapolis center fielder Mitch Jebb hit Fellows’s slider for a solo home run at 386 feet to right field to put the Indians up 1-0. It was his third home run of the season, and the exit velocity off the bat was 101.1 mph. With two outs, Fellows struck out Grae Kessinger to end the inning.
At the top of the third inning with one out, Steward Berroa worked a four-pitch walk. Lehigh Valley first baseman Felix Reyes hit Hunter Barco’s sinker for a two-run home run at 446 feet to left field to put the IronPigs ahead 2-1. It was his 21st home run of the season, and the exit velocity off the bat was 111.8 mph.
Lehigh Valley right fielder Tommy Pham hit a triple to center field, and Keaton Anthony worked a four-pitch walk. Otto Kemp grounded out to shortstop Grae Kessinger, scoring Pham for a 3-0 lead. With two outs, Paul McIntosh struck out swinging, and the inning was over.
In the bottom of the third inning, Indianapolis had a runner on third base with one out when Endy Rodríguez grounded out to shortstop Dylan Moore, scoring Dominic Fletcher, and it was now 3-2. A groundout by Joshua Palacios ended the inning.
Moving to the top of the fifth inning, Lehigh Valley had runners on second and third base when Otto Kemp hit a sacrifice fly to right field, scoring Tommy Pham for a 4-2 lead. Shortstop Dylan Moore followed by hitting a sacrifice fly to left field, scoring Keaton Anthony for a 5-2 lead. A groundout by Paul McIntosh ended the inning.
In the bottom of the sixth inning, Indianapolis had a runner on third base with two outs when Mitch Jebb hit an RBI single to center field, scoring Ronny Simons, and it was now 5-3. A groundout by Duce Gourson ended the inning. Drake Fellows went six innings, allowing six hits, three runs, and struck out four, throwing 87 pitches, of which 62 were strikes.
Kirby Snead pitched for Lehigh Valley in the bottom of the seventh inning. Snead allowed a hit and struck out one, throwing 15 pitches, of which 12 were strikes, to get three outs.
At the top of the eighth inning, Lehigh Valley shortstop Dylan Moore hit Khristian Curtis’s changeup for a solo home run at 378 feet to left field for a 6-3 lead. It was his eighth home run of the season, and the exit velocity off the bat was 100.4 mph. With one out, Robert Moore grounded into an inning-ending 4-6-3 double play.
Kirby Snead went three innings, allowing two hits, and struck out four, throwing 34 pitches, of which 27 were strikes to get the final nine outs of the game. The IronPigs beat the Indians 6-3 for their second straight win.
Lehigh Valley finished the night with nine hits, went 0 for 6 with runners in scoring position, and left seven men on base. Tommy Pham went 1 for 2 with three walks and a triple. The win went to Lehigh Valley starter Drake Fellows (2-1), while Kirby Snead earned his first save of the season, and the loss went to Indianapolis pitcher Hunter Barco (3-6).
The IronPigs will look to take the series lead against the Indians on Saturday at 7:05 pm on the MLB App and Bally Sports Live. Lehigh Valley have yet to name a starter, while Antwone Kelly (4-5, 4.58 ERA) will be on the mound for Indianapolis.
