The Lehigh Valley IronPigs (67-80, 32-40) took on the Syracuse Mets (80-67, 42-30) in game four on Friday night at NBT Bank Stadium. Drake Fellows was on the mound for Lehigh Valley against Justin Hagenman for Syracuse.
The game was scoreless in the first three innings. At the top of the fourth inning, Lehigh Valley had runners on first and second base with two outs when Raider Tello hit an RBI single to shortstop Zack Short, scoring Otto Kemp for a 1-0 lead. A groundout by Nick Biddison ended the inning.
In the bottom of the fourth inning, Fellows allowed back-to-back singles. With one out, Jose Ramos tied the game 1-1 with an RBI single to left field, scoring Vidal Brujan. Billy Amick was out at third base. Fellows loaded the bases before striking out D’Andre Smith to end the inning.
In the bottom of the fifth inning with two outs, Syracuse second baseman Vidal Brujan hit Fellows’s sinker to give the Mets a 2-1 lead for a solo home run at 404 feet to right-center field. It was his fifth home run of the season. A flyout by Billy Amick ended the inning. Drake Fellows went five innings, allowing six hits, two runs, two walks, and five strikeouts, throwing 79 pitches, of which 53 were strikes.
Andrew Hoffmann pitched for Lehigh Valley in the bottom of the sixth inning. Hoffmann allowed a hit, two runs, and walked one, throwing 12 pitches, of which four were strikes, before leaving the game with an injury. Max Lazar replaced Hoffmann. Lazar walked Zack Short to load the bases with nobody out. D’Andre Smith made it 4-1 with a two-run RBI single to center field, scoring Jose Ramos and Hayden Senger. Vidal Brujan made it 5-1 with a groundout to Max Lazar, scoring Zack Short with two outs. A lineout by Eric Wagaman ended the inning. Lazar went one inning, allowing a hit and a walk, throwing 22 pitches, of which 12 were strikes.
At the top of the seventh inning, Lehigh Valley designated hitter Raider Tello hit Kevin Herget’s changeup for a solo home run at 392 feet to left-center field. It was now 5-2. For Tello, it was his first Triple-A home run of the season, and the exit velocity off the bat was 98.9 mph. Nick Biddison hit a single to left field, but Jordan Dissin and Wuilfredo Antunez could not bring home.
Tristan Garnett pitched for Lehigh Valley in the bottom of the seventh inning. He walked one and struck out two, throwing 21 pitches, of which 11 were strikes, to get three outs. Mitch Neunborn pitched for Lehigh Valley in the bottom of the eighth inning. Neunborn put a runner on first base with one out when M.J. Melendez hit an RBI double to center field, scoring Jefferson Rojas for a 6-2 lead. With two outs, a lineout by Eric Wagaman ended the inning. Neunborn allowed a hit and a run, throwing 16 pitches, of which 12 were strikes, to get three outs.
The IronPigs dropped their fourth in a row to Syracuse 6-2. It was also their fifth straight loss. Lehigh Valley finished the night with four hits, committed three errors, went one for four with runners in scoring position, and left five men on base. Raider Tello went 2 for 4 with a home run and two RBIs. The loss went to Lehigh Valley starter Drake Fellows (6-5), and the win went to Syracuse pitcher Ben Simon (5-4).
The IronPigs and Mets play game five on Saturday at 6:35 pm on the MLB App and Bally Sports Live. Casey Lawrence (1-1, 7.76 ERA) will be on the mound for Lehigh Valley, while Syracuse will name a starter tomorrow.
