The Lehigh Valley IronPigs (2-0) picked up their second win of the season at Innovative Field against the Rochester Red Wings (0-2) on Saturday afternoon.
The IronPigs took a 1-0 lead at the top of the fourth inning on a Scott Kingery solo home run that went 104 mph off the bat and went over the center field wall at 417 feet.
Lehigh Valley starter T.J. Zeuch gave up a double to Red Wings’ shortstop Jeter Downs in the bottom of the fourth inning. After Red Wings’ left fielder Yadiel Hernandez grounded out to second baseman Kody Clemens, moving Downs to third base. Zeuch threw a wild pitch that scored Downs, tying the game 1-1.
Luckily, Zeuch found a way to get the last two outs to end the bottom of the fourth inning. Zeuch pitched five innings, allowing three hits, one run, and three strikeouts in 62 pitches, of which 39 were strikes.
At the top of the eighth inning, Scott Kingery tripled on a sharp fly ball to center field that nearly went for a home run with one out. Then, IronPigs’ second baseman Kody Clemens drove Kingery home with an RBI single on a sharp line drive to center field for a 2-1 lead.
Clemons stole second base during Weston Wilson’s at-bat but Wilson struck out. Then, Vimael Machin singled on a line drive to left field moving Clemons to third base with two outs. Unfortunately, John Hicks flies out to center field for the third out.
The IronPigs’ bullpen retired the last 15 Red Wings’ batters. IronPigs’ pitcher Trey Cobb got Red Wings’ pinch hitter Darren Baker to ground out, Jeter Downs to pop out, and Yadiel Hernandez popped out for the final out of the game and the IronPigs defeated the Red Wings by the final score of 2-1.
IronPigs’ pitcher Jeremy Walker (2.0 IP, 1 SO) was the winning pitcher, while Red Wings’ pitcher Matt Cronin (1.0 IP, 3 H, 1 R, 1 ER, 1 SO) suffered the loss. Trey Cobb (1.0 IP) earned his first save of the year.
The IronPigs and Red Wings conclude the three-game series on Sunday at 1:05 pm. Tickets for the game are available on StubHub and Viagogo, and pickup IronPigs merchandise today at Fanatics.com.
