The Lehigh Valley IronPigs (63-72, 28-32) and the Scranton/Wilkes-Barre RailRiders (72-61, 35-24) played game five on Friday night at PNC Field. Brian Keller was on the mound for Lehigh Valley against Kyle Carr for Scranton/Wilkes-Barre.
At the top of the first inning, Christian Cairo put the IronPigs up 1-0 by hitting Carr’s four-seam fastball for a solo home run at 416 feet to left-center field. It was his fourth home run of the season. With two outs, Lehigh Valley first baseman Keaton Anthony hit Carr’s four-seam fastball for a solo home run at 403 feet to right-center field for a 2-0 lead. Carter Kieboom hit a double to left field. Colby Thomas hit a single to center field. Kieboom tried to score but was called out at home plate, and the inning was over.
In the bottom of the second inning, Scranton/Wilkes-Barre had a runner on first base with one out when Yanquiel Fernández hit an RBI double to left field, scoring Max Schuemann. It was now 2-1. A throwing error by Thomas allowed Fernández to move to third base. Ernesto Martinez Jr. tied the game 2-2 with an RBI double to left field.
With two outs and a runner on third base, Anthony Volpe put the RailRiders up 4-2 by hitting Keller’s sweeper for a two-run home run at 360 feet to left field. It was his 11th home run of the season, and the exit velocity off the bat was 101.1 mph.
Keller gave back-to-back singles before Marco Luciano hit an RBI single to left field, scoring Jasson Domínguez for a 5-2 lead. Oswaldo Cabrera followed up by hitting an RBI single to center field, scoring J.C. Escarra for a 6-2 lead. Max Schuemann grounded into a forceout at second, and the inning was finally over. Brian Keller went 2.2, allowing 11 hits, six runs, and one walk, throwing 64 pitches, of which 43 were strikes.
Ryan Cusick pitched for Lehigh Valley in the bottom of the third inning with two outs and a runner on first base. Cusick hit Anthony Volpe before Jasson Domínguez popped out to shortstop Christian Cairo for the final out of the inning. Cusick went 1.1 innings, allowing one walk, throwing 18 pitches, of which seven were strikes.
Tanner Banks pitched for Lehigh Valley in the bottom of the fifth inning. In the bottom of the sixth inning, Scranton/Wilkes-Barre had runners on the corners with nobody out when J.C. Escarra hit a sacrifice fly to right field, scoring Anthony Volpe for a 7-2 lead. With two outs, Banks struck out Oswaldo Cabrera to end the inning. Banks went two innings, allowing two hits, one run, one walk, and three strikeouts, throwing 31 pitches, of which 20 were strikes.
Michael Mercado pitched for Lehigh Valley in the bottom of the seventh inning. With a runner on third base and two outs, Jarred Kelenic hit Mercado’s splitter for a two-run home run at 394 feet to right-center field for a 9-2 lead. Mercado struck out Anthony Volpe to end the inning. Mercado went two innings, allowing four hits, two runs, and two strikeouts, throwing 27 pitches, of which 21 were strikes.
The IronPigs would lose to the RailRiders 9-2 for their fourth straight loss. Lehigh Valley finished the night with six hits, committed two errors, went 1 for 6 with runners in scoring position, and left six men on base. The loss went to Lehigh Valley starter Brian Keller (1-5), and the win went to Scranton/Wilkes-Barre pitcher Hayden Merda (1-0).
The IronPigs and RailRiders will play game six on Saturday at 6:05 pm on the MLB App and Bally Sports Live. Chuck King (9-8, 4.20 ERA) will be on the mound for Lehigh Valley against Xavier Rivas (6-6, 5.34 ERA) for Scranton/Wilkes-Barre.
