The Lehigh Valley IronPigs (64-72, 29-32) and the Scranton/Wilkes-Barre RailRiders (72-62, 35-25) played game six on Saturday night at PNC Field. Chuck King was on the mound for Lehigh Valley against Xavier Rivas for Scranton/Wilkes-Barre.
At the top of the first inning, Lehigh Valley had runners on first and second base when center fielder Kameron Misner hit an RBI single to left field, scoring Keaton Anthony to put the IronPigs up 1-0. Two batters later, Lehigh Valley had the bases loaded when Rivas threw a wild pitch, scoring Carter Kieboom for a 2-0 lead. Paul McIntosh struck out swinging for the third out.
In the bottom of the second inning, Scranton/Wilkes-Barre had runners on second and third base with one out when Tyler Hardman hit King’s four-seam fastball for a three-run home run at 348 feet to right field to put the RailRiders up 3-2. It was his 13th home run of the season, and the exit velocity off the bat was 102.7 mph. King would get the next two outs to end the inning.
At the top of the third inning, Colby Thomas and Keaton Anthony worked four-pitch walks. Thomas stole third base, and Carter Kieboom brought him home with a sacrifice fly to right field, tying the game 3-3. With two outs, Dylan Moore struck out, and the inning was over.
Moving to the top of the sixth inning, Lehigh Valley had a runner on third base with two outs when Paul McIntosh reached first base on a throwing error by third baseman Max Schuemann, scoring Carter Kieboom to give the IronPigs a 4-3 lead. A groundout by Steward Berroa ended the inning.
Chuck King went five innings, allowing five hits, three runs, and three walks, throwing 94 pitches, of which 57 were strikes. Lou Trivino III pitched for Lehigh Valley in the bottom of the sixth inning. In the bottom of the seventh inning, Scranton/Wilkes-Barre second baseman tied the game 4-4 with an RBI single to center field, scoring Jarred Kelenic. In the bottom of the seventh inning, Trivino III put two runners on base with two outs before he was replaced by Max Lazar.
Oswaldo Cabrera hit an RBI single to right field, scoring Anthony Volpe for a 5-4 lead. Lazar struck out Max Schuemann to end the inning. Trivino went 1.2 innings, allowing two hits, two runs, one walk, and two strikeouts, throwing 37 pitches, of which 22 were strikes.
At the top of the eighth inning with two outs, Lehigh Valley center fielder Kameron Mizner tied the game 5-5 by hitting Eli Morgan’s four-seam fastball at 357 feet to right field. It was his 19th home run of the season, and the exit velocity off the bat was 104.6 mph. A groundout by Paul McIntosh ended the inning.
In the bottom of the eighth inning, Scranton/Wilkes-Barre had a runner on third base with one out when Kenedy Corona hit an RBI sacrifice bunt to first base, scoring Duke Ellis for a 6-5 lead. With two outs, a flyout by J.C. Escarra ended the inning. Lazar went 1.1 innings, allowing two hits, one run, one walk, and three strikeouts, throwing 33 pitches, of which 20 were strikes.
Lehigh Valley had one more chance at the top of the ninth inning. Gabriel Rincones Jr. started the inning with a double, followed by Robert Moore tying the game 6-6 by hitting an RBI double to right field, scoring Rincones Jr. Christian Cairo followed up by hitting an RBI single to center field, scoring Moore for a 7-6 lead. Three batters later, Carter Kieboom hit an RBI single to left field, scoring Cairo for an 8-6 lead. Kameron Mizner struck out swinging, and the inning was over.
Kirby Snead pitched for Lehigh Valley in the bottom of the ninth inning. He walked one and struck one out, throwing 13 pitches, of which seven were strikes, to get the final three outs of the game. The IronPigs snapped a four-game losing streak with an 8-6 win.
Lehigh Valley finished the night with 10 hits, committed one error, went 4 for 10 with runners in scoring position, and left four men on base. Kameron Mizner went 3 for 5 with a home run and two RBIs, while Carter Kieboom went 2 for 3 with a walk and two RBIs. The win went to Lehigh Valley pitcher Max Lazar (5-1), while Kirby Snead earned his second save of the season, and the loss went to Scranton/Wilkes-Barre pitcher Bradley Hanner (6-3).
The IronPigs and RailRiders will meet for the final time of the season on Sunday at 1:35 pm on the MLB App and Bally Sports Live. Drake Fellows (5-3, 5.22 ERA) will be on the mound for Lehigh Valley against Adam Kloffenstein (3-11, 5.16 ERA) for Scranton/Wilkes-Barre.
