After rain postponed Thursday night’s game, the Lehigh Valley IronPigs (62-65, 27-25) took on the Syracuse Mets (65-63, 27-26) in game three on Friday night at Coca-Cola Park. Casey Lawrence was on the mound for Lehigh Valley against Justin Hagenman of Syracuse.
At the top of the third inning, Syracuse right fielder Jose Ramos hit Lawrence’s cutter for a solo home run at 366 feet to right field to give the Mets a 1-0 lead. It was his third home run of the season, and the exit velocity off the bat was 100.3 mph. Two batters later, D’Andre Smith grounded into a 5-4-3 double play, followed by Nick Morabito’s lineout to shortstop Dylan Moore to end the inning.
In the bottom of the third inning, Lehigh Valley designated hitter Payton Henry reached first base on a throwing error by third baseman Mark Vientos. Second baseman Robert Moore put the IronPigs up 2-1 when he hit Hagenman’s sinker for a two-run home run at 397 feet to right field. It was his 13th home run of the season, and the exit velocity off the bat was 104.8 mph. With two outs, Kameron Misner struck out swinging.
At the top of the fourth inning, Syracuse had a runner on first base with two outs when M.J. Melendez tied the game 2-2 with an RBI double to left field, scoring Ronny Mauricio. A lineout by Billy Amick to shortstop Dylan Moore ended the inning.
In the bottom of the fifth inning, Dylan Moore and Payton Henry worked four-pitch walks, followed by Robert Moore getting hit by a pitch with nobody out. Two batters later with one out, catcher Rafael Marchan hit a sacrifice fly to left field, scoring Moore to give the IronPigs a 3-2 lead. Kameron Misner was called out on strikes, and the inning was over.
At the top of the sixth inning, Lehigh Valley starter Casey Lawrence loaded the bases with two outs when Billy Amick hit a two-run RBI single to right field, scoring Nick Morabito and Mark Vientos to put the Mets up 4-3. Lawrence was replaced by Kirby Snead. A flyout by Jose Ramos ended the inning. Lawrence went 5.2 innings, allowing eight hits, four runs, one walk, and two strikeouts, throwing 63 pitches, of which 41 were strikes.
In the bottom of the sixth inning, Lehigh Valley had a runner on second base with one out when Colby Thomas tied the game 4-4 with an RBI double to left field, scoring Keaton Anthony. With two outs, Payton Henry struck out swinging.
Kirby Snead went 1.1 innings, allowing a hit, throwing 16 pitches, of which 10 were strikes. Kyle Backhus pitched for Lehigh Valley at the top of the eighth inning. He allowed a hit and struck out one, throwing 14 pitches, of which eight were strikes.
Grant Holman pitched for Lehigh Valley at the top of the ninth inning. He walked one, throwing 11 pitches, of which seven were strikes. In the bottom of the ninth inning, Dylan Moore walked with one out. With two outs, second baseman Robert Moore ended the game by hitting Ben Simon’s slider for a walk-off two-run home run at 415 feet to right field to give the IronPigs a 6-4 win. It was his 14th home run of the season, second of the night, and the exit velocity off the bat was 105.3 mph.
Lehigh Valley finished the night with six hits, committed one error, went 1 for 8 with runners in scoring position, and left five men on base. Robert Moore went 3 for 3 with two home runs, a double, hit by a pitch, and four RBIs. The win went to Lehigh Valley pitcher Grant Holman (3-0), and the loss went to Syracuse pitcher Ben Simon (3-4).
The IronPigs and Mets play a doubleheader on Saturday beginning at 4:35 pm on the MLB App and Bally Sports Live. Alan Rangel (3-6, 5.18 ERA) will be on the mound for Lehigh Valley in game one, while Brian Keller (1-4, 4.39 ERA) will be on the mound for Lehigh Valley in game two. Jack Weisenburger and Jonah Tong will be on the mound for Syracuse.
