The Lehigh Valley IronPigs (61-65, 26-25) took on the Syracuse Mets (65-62, 27-25) in game two on Wednesday night at Coca-Cola Park. Drake Fellow was on the mound for Lehigh Valley against Kevin Herget of Syracuse.
At the top of the first inning, Syracuse had a runner on first base with one out when Mark Vientos hit an RBI single to left field, scoring Émilien Pitre for a 1-0 lead. A throwing error by Tommy Pham allowed Vientos to advance to second base. Two batters later, M.J. Melendez hit an RBI single to right field, scoring Mark Vientos for a 2-0 lead. Billy Amick grounded into a forceout at second base, and the inning was over.
At the top of the third inning, Syracuse had a runner on third base with one out when Ronny Mauricio hit an RBI double off the wall at right field, scoring Émilien Pitre for a 3-0 lead. Fellows got the other two outs to end the inning.
Moving to the top of the fourth inning, Syracuse catcher Shawn Ross hit Fellows’s slider a two-run home run at 431 feet to left-center field for a 5-0 lead. It was his fourth home run of the season, and the exit velocity off the bat was 106.4 mph. With two outs, a flyout by Émilien Pitre ended the inning.
In the bottom of the fourth inning with one out, Lehigh Valley right fielder Gabriel Rincones Jr. hit Tobias Myers’s splitter for a solo home run at 443 feet to center field, cutting Syracuse’s lead to 5-1. With two outs, a groundout by Christian Cairo ended the inning.
At the top of the fifth inning, Syracuse would get that run back when Mark Vientos hit Fellows’s changeup for a solo home run at 409 feet to center field for a 6-1 lead. It was his first home run of the season, and the exit velocity off the bat was 105.7 mph. Later, Syracuse first baseman Billy Amick hit Fellows’s sinker for a solo home run to right field for a 7-1 lead. It was his second home run of the season. Drake Fellows was replaced by Ryan Cusick. Cusick struck out Jose Ramos to end the inning.
Drake Fellows went 4.2 innings, allowing 10 hits, seven runs, one walk, and one strikeout, throwing 66 pitches, of which 46 were strikes. Ryan Cusick went 1.1 innings, with one strikeout, throwing 20 pitches, of which 10 were strikes.
Tanner Banks pitched for Lehigh Valley at the top of the seventh inning. He struck out two, throwing 11 pitches, of which eight were strikes. Michael Mercado pitched for Lehigh Valley at the top of the eighth inning. He gave up a double before Billy Amick hit Mercado’s cutter for a two-run home run at 419 feet to center field for a 9-1 lead.
It was his second home run of the night, third of the season, and the exit velocity off the bat was 102.7 mph. Syracuse would get another runner on base before Shawn Ross hit an RBI double to center field, scoring Jose Ramos for a 10-1 lead. With two outs, a flyout by Émilien Pitre ended the inning. Mercado allowed four hits and three runs, throwing 23 pitches, of which 14 were strikes.
Tristan Garnett pitched for Lehigh Valley at the top of the ninth inning. With two outs and a runner on second base, Syracuse first baseman Billy Amick hit an RBI single to third baseman Otto Kemp. A throwing error by Kemp allowed D’Andre Smith to score for an 11-1 lead. Jose Ramos popped out to shortstop Christian Cairo to end the inning. Garnett allowed a hit, a run, and two strikeouts, throwing 24 pitches, of which 13 were strikes.
The IronPigs would lose the game 11-1. Lehigh Valley finished the night with seven hits, committed two errors, went 1 for 3 with runners in scoring position, and left five men on base. The loss went to Lehigh Valley starter Drake Fellows (5-3), and the win went to Syracuse pitcher Tobias Myers (2-1).
The IronPigs and Mets play game three on Thursday at 6:45 pm on the MLB App and Bally Sports Live. Casey Lawrence (1-0, 6.35 ERA) will be on the mound for Lehigh Valley against Jack Wenninger (4-7, 4.17 ERA) of Syracuse.
