On Saturday night at Coca-Cola Park, the Lehigh Valley IronPigs looked to start a new winning streak against the Syracuse Mets in game four of the series.
Kent Emanuel (2-1, 2.45 ERA) was on the mound for Lehigh Valley, while the Mets started Tim Adleman (2-1, 6.42 ERA).
Before the game, the Philadelphia Phillies announced that pitcher Ryan Sherriff had cleared waivers and was sent back to Lehigh Valley.
In the bottom of the fourth inning, Tim Adleman walked Johan Camargo with one out, and catcher Donny Sands came to the plate. Donny Sands doubled off the wall at center field, and Camargo collided with Mets’ catcher Michael Perez and scored. Meanwhile, Sands hesitated before running to third base and was tagged out. The IronPigs led 1-0.
IronPigs’ first baseman Josh Ockimey was up next, and Adleman walked him. Next was IronPigs’ center fielder Dalton Guthrie. Guthrie singled to left field, followed by Tim Adleman walking Justin Williams with Chris Sharpe coming to the plate. Unfortunately, Sharpe struck out swinging that ending the inning.
At the top of the fifth inning, IronPigs pitcher Kent Emanuel gave up a double to JT Riddle, followed by striking out Mets’ catcher Michael Perez with third baseman Tzu-Wei Lin coming to the plate. Lin singled on a line drive to left field, tying the game 1-1. That was it for Emanuel, who went 4.1 innings, allowing five hits, two runs, two walks, and five strikeouts in 84 pitches. Zach Warren was the new IronPigs pitcher.
Warren threw a wild pitch, moving Lin to second base, before getting Dominic Smith to fly out for the second out. Then, a balk was called on Warren, and Lin scored, giving the Mets a 2-1 lead. After walking Travis Blankenhorn and Nick Plummer, Warren struck out Nick Dini to retire the side.
Justin Dillon was the new Mets pitcher to start the bottom of the fifth inning. IronPigs’ third baseman Will Toffey was up first. He singled to right field, followed by Scott Kingery striking out. Yairo Munoz was up next and singled to center field, moving Toffey to third base.
Then, Mets’ catcher Michael Perez tried to get Munoz out at first base, and his throw missed first baseman Dominic Smith, and Toffey scored, tying the game 2-2. Johan Camargo flied out, and Donny Sands lined out that ended the inning.
Francisco Morales was the new IronPigs pitcher at the top of the sixth inning. He went one inning with no hits, no runs, no walks, and no strikeouts in 14 pitchers. Ofreidy Gomez then pitched at the top of the seventh inning.
Gomez walked Tzu-Wei Lin. Lin stole second base during Dominic Smith’s at-bat. Gomez struck out Dominic Smith before giving up a single to Nick Plummer. Travis Blankenhorn was up next for the Mets. Gomez threw a wild pitch, scoring Lin and the Mets went back up 3-2. Gomez ended up walking Blankenhorn, and that was it for him. Gomez went 0.1 innings, allowing one hit, one run, two walks, and one strikeout in 24 pitches.
Jakob Hernandez came in for Gomez. He gave up a single to Nick Dini, scoring Plummer for a 4-2 lead. Then, Hernandez got Gosuke Katoh to ground out to shortstop Yairo Munoz, who tossed the ball to Scott Kingery to get Dini out at second base, followed by a ground out from Khalil Lee, ending the inning.
In the bottom of the seventh inning, IronPigs’ shortstop Yairo Munoz singled to center field with one out. After Johan Camargo flied out, catcher Donny Sands doubled on a soft fly ball to right field, scoring Munoz and making it a one-run game, 4-3. IronPigs’ first baseman Josh Ockimey flied out that ended the inning.
Bubby Rossman was the new IronPigs pitcher at the top of the eighth inning. He went one inning and struck out the side. In the bottom of the eighth inning, Locke St. John was the new Mets pitcher. He hit Dalton Guthrie and gave up a single to IronPigs’ right fielder Justin Williams. IronPigs’ left fielder Chris Sharpe was up next, but he popped out, and Rafael Marchan pinch hit for Will Toffey. Lock St. John hit Marchan, loading the bases for Scott Kingery.
Lock St. John walked Kingery, forcing in a run, and the game was tied 4-4 with Yairo Munoz coming to bat. Munoz cleared the bases with a three-run double to center field, giving the IronPigs a 7-4 lead. Johan Camargo popped out, and Donny Sands flied out to end the inning.
Tyler Cyr closed out the game for the IronPigs at the top of the ninth inning. Cyr got Deven Marrero to ground out, followed by back-to-back strikeouts from Nick Plummer and Travis Blankenhorn as the IronPigs won the game 7-4. The IronPigs had nine hits in the game.
The umpires missed many calls, including Donny Sands’s throw to Josh Ockimey at the top of the fifth when Ockimey tagged out Dominic Smith. The MVP of the game goes to Donny Sands. He got hit many times, both at bat and while catching. He deserves a day off on Sunday.
The IronPigs move to 58-46 for the season. However, the Jacksonville Jumbo Shrimp won their game and remained in first place. Meanwhile, the Bulls have lost three straight games, and the IronPigs remain alone in second place, up by two games over the Bulls.
The win went to IronPigs pitcher Bubby Rossman, his second win of the season, while the loss went to Mets pitcher Lock St. John, his third loss of the year. IronPigs pitcher Tyler Cyr (1.0 IP, 0 H, 0 R, 0 BB, 2 SO) earned his third save of the season.
Lehigh Valley has won the series and will look to close it out on a winning note today at 5:35 pm. Tickets for the game can be purchased on StubHub, and pick up IronPigs merchandise today at Fanatics.com.
