The Lehigh Valley IronPigs (63-69, 28-29) visited PNC Field to begin a seven-game series starting with a doubleheader against the Scranton/Wilkes-Barre RailRiders (69-61, 32-24). In game one, Drake Fellows was on the mound for Lehigh Valley against Adam Kloffenstein of Scranton/Wilkes-Barre. This was the conclusion of August 16th, when the IronPigs were the home team.
The game was scoreless in the first three innings until the top of the fourth inning. Scranton/Wilkes-Barre had runners on second and third base when J.C. Escarra grounded out to first baseman Keaton Anthony, scoring Jasson Domínguez to give the RailRiders a 1-0 lead. Yanquiel Fernández followed up by hitting an RBI double to left field, scoring Max Schuemann for a 2-0 lead. Ernesto Martinez Jr. grounded into a 4-6-3 inning-ending double play.
Drake Fellows went six innings, allowing seven hits, two runs, one walk, and one strikeout, throwing 71 pitches, of which 47 were strikes. Tanner Banks pitched for Lehigh Valley at the top of the eighth inning. He struck out two, throwing 13 pitches, of which eight were strikes, to get three outs.
Moving to the bottom of the eighth inning, Lehigh Valley had a runner on second base with one out when Steward Berroa hit an RBI single to right field, scoring Robert Moore. It was now 2-1. Berroa stole second base. Two batters later with two outs, Kameron Misner grounded out to catcher Abrahan Gutierrez. The ball was deflected by pitcher Adam Kloffenstein, scoring Berroa, and the game was tied 2-2.
Misner stole second base, and Keaton Anthony was hit by a pitch, leading to a pitching change by Scranton/Wilkes-Barre. Lehigh Valley third baseman Otto Kemp hit a two-run RBI single to left field, scoring Misner and Christian Cairo for a 4-2 lead. Colby Thomas struck out swinging for the final out of the inning. Tanner Banks pitched at the top of the ninth inning. He went two innings, with two strikeouts, throwing 21 pitches, of which 14 were strikes, to get the final six outs of the game. The IronPigs beat the RailRiders in game one by the final score of 4-2. The win ended a three-game losing streak.
Lehigh Valley finished the game with six hits, went 3 for 11 with runners in scoring position, and left five men on base. The win went to Lehigh Valley pitcher Tanner Banks (1-1), and the loss went to Scranton/Wilkes-Barre pitcher Adam Kloffenstein (2-10).
In game two, Ryan Cusick was on the mound for Lehigh Valley against Eric Reyzelman of Scranton/Wilkes-Barre. In the bottom of the first inning with one out, Scranton/Wilkes-Barre shortstop Anthony Volpe hit Cusick’s sweeper for a solo home run at 383 feet to left field, giving the RailRiders a 1-0 lead. It was his ninth home run of the season, and the exit velocity off the bat was 100.8 mph.
Three batters later, the RailRiders had runners on first and second base when J.C. Escarra hit an RBI single to right field, scoring Jasson Domínguez for a 2-0 lead. Oswaldo Cabrera grounded into a forceout at second base, scoring Marco Luciano for a 3-0 lead with two outs. A groundout by Tyler Hardman ended the inning. Cusick allowed three hits, three runs, one walk, and one strikeout, throwing 23 pitches, of which 14 were strikes.
Tucker Davidson pitched for Lehigh Valley in the bottom of the second inning. In the bottom of the third inning, Scranton/Wilkes-Barre had a runner on third base with one out when Marco Luciano hit a sacrifice fly to center field, scoring Anthony Volpe for a 4-0 lead. A flyout by J.C. Escarra ended the inning.
Moving to the bottom of the fourth inning, Scranton/Wilkes-Barre had a runner on first base with two outs when Kenedy Corona hit Davidson’s sweeper for a two-run home run at 377 feet to left field for a 6-0 lead. It was his eighth home run of the season, and the exit velocity off the bat was 103.3 mph. A flyout by Anthony Volpe ended the inning.
In the bottom of the fifth inning, Scranton/Wilkes-Barre had a runner at first base with one out when J.C. Escarra hit Davidson’s sweeper for a two-run home run at 346 feet to right field for an 8-0 lead. It was his 10th home run of the season, and the exit velocity off the bat was 99.3 mph. With two outs, a flyout by Yanquiel Fernández ended the inning. Tucker Davidson went four innings, allowing seven hits, five runs, and three strikeouts, throwing 56 pitches, of which 40 were strikes.
Tristan Garnett pitched for Lehigh Valley in the bottom of the sixth inning. Garnett put runners on first and second base with two outs when Marco Luciano hit an RBI single to left field, scoring Anthony Volpe for a 9-0 lead. J.C. Escarra followed up by hitting an RBI single to center field, scoring Jasson Domínguez for a 10-0 lead. Oswaldo Cabrera hit an RBI single to left field, scoring Marco Luciano for an 11-0 lead.
After walking Tyler Hardman, Garnett was replaced by position player Steward Berroa. Berroa walked Yanquiel Fernández for a 12-0 lead before Kenedy Corona cleared them with a grand slam at 364 feet to left field for a 16-0 lead. It was his ninth home run of the season, and the exit velocity off the bat was 102.4 mph. A flyout by Jarred Kelenic ended the inning. Tristan Garnett allowed three hits, six runs, three walks, and one strikeout, throwing 34 pitches, of which 15 were strikes.
The IronPigs would lose game two by the final score of 16-0. Lehigh Valley finished the game with one hit, went 0 for 2 with runners in scoring position, and left five men on base. The loss went to Lehigh Valley pitcher Ryan Cusick (1-7), and the win went to Scranton/Wilkes-Barre Zach Messinger (8-1).
The IronPigs and RailRiders play game three on Wednesday at 7:05 pm on the MLB App and Bally Sports Live. Casey Lawrence 1-0, 5.84 ERA) will be on the mound for Lehigh Valley against Alexander Cornielle (4-5, 3.21 ERA) of Scranton/Wilkes-Barre.
