The Lehigh Valley IronPigs (56-62, 21-22) and the Scranton/Wilkes-Barre RailRiders (63-52, 26-15) played game four on Friday night at Coca-Cola Park. Brian Keller was on the mound for Lehigh Valley against Adam Kloffenstein of Scranton/Wilkes-Barre.
The game was scoreless in the first two innings. At the top of the third inning with two outs, Scranton/Wilkes-Barre second baseman Anthony Volpe hit Keller’s four-seam fastball for a solo home run at 408 feet to right-center field to give the RailRiders a 1-0 lead. It was his third home run of the season, and the exit velocity off the bat was 104.1 mph. A flyout by Jasson Domínguez ended the inning.
Moving to the bottom of the fourth inning, Lehigh Valley had a runner on third base with two outs when Adam Kloffenstein threw a wild pitch, walking Paul McIntosh and scoring Carter Kieboom, tying the game 1-1.
Lehigh Valley second baseman Robert Moore hit Kloffenstein’s changeup for a two-run home run at 395 feet to right field, giving the IronPigs a 3-1 lead. It was his 12th home run of the season, and the exit velocity off the bat was 102.2 mph. With two outs, Rafael Marchan struck out swinging.
Lehigh Valley starter Brian Keller went five innings, allowing four hits, one run, and three strikeouts, throwing 84 pitches, of which 53 were strikes. Kirby Snead pitched for Lehigh Valley at the top of the sixth inning. In the bottom of the sixth inning, Lehigh Valley busted the game wide-open with the bases loaded as Tommy Pham hit Eric Reyzelman’s four-seam fastball for a grand slam at 382 feet right-center field for a 7-1 lead. It was his seventh home run of the season, and the exit velocity off the bat was 102.5 mph. With one out, Keaton Anthony grounded into a 6-4-3 double play.
In the bottom of the seventh inning, Lehigh Valley third baseman Carter Kieboom hit Brian Hendry’s four-seam fastball for a solo home run at 348 feet to left field for an 8-1 lead. It was his seventh home run of the season, and the exit velocity off the bat was 98.3 mph.
Later, Lehigh Valley had the bases loaded when Tommy Pham hit a two-run RBI single to center field, scoring Dylan Moore and Paul McIntosh for a 10-1 lead. A sacrifice fly by Steward Berroa scored Robert Moore for an 11-1 lead. Two batters later, Keaton Anthony hit an RBI single to left field, scoring Tommy Pham for a 12-1 lead. A flyout by Carter Kieboom ended the inning.
Kirby Snead went two innings, allowing two hits, one walk, and one strikeout, throwing 28 pitches, of which 18 were strikes. Kyle Backhus pitched for Lehigh Valley at the top of the eighth inning. He allowed a hit and struck out one, throwing 12 pitches, of which 10 were strikes, to get three outs.
In the bottom of the eighth inning, Lehigh Valley had the bases loaded with two outs when Steward Berroa hit an RBI single to right field, scoring Dylan Moore for a 13-1 lead. A lineout by Otto Kemp ended the inning.
Max Lazar pitched for Lehigh Valley at the top of the ninth inning. He allowed a hit and struck out two, throwing 15 pitches, of which 13 were strikes, to get the final three outs of the game. The IronPigs dominated to a 13-1 win over the RailRiders.
Lehigh Valley finished the night with 12 hits, went 4 of 12 with runners in scoring position, and left 11 men on base. Tommy Pham went 3 for 4 with a home run, two walks, and six RBIs. The win went to Lehigh Valley starter Brian Keller (1-3), and the loss went to Scranton/Wilkes-Barre starter Adam Kloffenstein (2-9).
The IronPigs and RailRiders play game five on Saturday at 6:35 pm on the MLB App and Bally Sports Live. Alan Rangel (3-5, 4.22 ERA) will be on the mound for Lehigh Valley against Brendan Beck (9-2, 2.66 ERA) of Scranton/Wilkes-Barre.
