The Lehigh Valley IronPigs (18-18) continued their six-game homestand on Friday night against the Memphis Redbirds (23-14) on Star Wars night. The IronPigs wore The Mandalorian jerseys.
Coming into this series, the IronPigs trailed Memphis 2-1. Lehigh Valley went with a bullpen game, Jeremy Walker (2-0, 4.00 ERA) was on the mound against Memphis’s Matthew Liberatore (3-1, 2.77 ERA).
Jeremy Walker pitched two innings, allowing two hits, three walks, and two strikeouts in 41 pitches, of which 21 were strikes. He was replaced by Francisco Morales, who pitched two innings allowing three walks, and three strikeouts in 35 pitches, of which 18 were strikes.
The IronPigs struck first in the bottom of the second inning when right fielder Dustin Peterson hit a solo home run 110 mph off the bat and out to center field for a 1-0 lead. It was Peterson’s third home run of the season, and the home run went 440 feet. Lehigh Valley was unable to score any more runs in the inning.
At the top of the fifth inning, Trey Cobb replaced Francisco Morales as the new IronPigs pitcher. Cobb walked Kramer Robertson before giving up a single to Taylor Motter. Two batters later, Luken Baker singled past a diving Weston Wilson and into left field, scoring Robertson that tied the game 1-1 with one out.
After striking out Jordan Walker, Cobb threw a wild pitch, scoring Taylor Motter for a 2-1 lead. Then, Cobb struck out Oscar Mercado to retire the side.
In the bottom of the fifth inning, the IronPigs tied the game 2-2 on a Scott Kingery solo home run 110 mph off the bat just past the foul pole at left field. The home run went 404 feet, and it was Kingery’s fourth home run of the season.
Lehigh Valley left fielder Jordan Qsar was next but he got hit as Jhailyn Ortiz was next. He singled to center field, moving Qsar to second base. Lehigh Valley third baseman Vimael Machin stepped up to the plate.
Machin grounded into a forceout in which Taylor Motter got Ortiz out at second base but he threw the ball wide to first baseman Irving Lopez as Qsar scored to take a 3-2 lead. Then, catcher Aramis Garcia doubled on a sharp line drive to center field, scoring Machin for a 4-2 lead.
It was Garcia’s first double of the year and he ended an 0-14 hitless streak. After Weston Wilson walked, Simon Muzziotti grounded into a double play that ended the inning.
Louis Head was the new Lehigh Valley pitcher to start the top of the sixth inning. He walked three Memphis players with two outs. Then, Head threw a wild pitch, scoring Irving Lopez and it was now 4-3 IronPigs. Head struck out Moises Gomez to get out of the inning.
Moving ahead to the top of the seventh inning, Hans Crouse pitched for Lehigh Valley. He gave up a solo home run to Luken Baker on a fastball that went out to left field, tying the game 4-4. The inning continued to get worse for Crouse when he gave up a single to Jordan Walker and another single to Juniel Querecuto with one out for Irving Lopez coming to the plate.
Lopez singled on a fly ball to the corner of right field, scoring Walker. However, Dustin Peterson and Scott Kingery quickly threw the ball to Vimael Machin for him to tag out Querecuto at third base for the second out. Crouse struck out Aaron Antonini to retire the side.
At the top of the ninth inning, Jesus Cruz pitched for the IronPigs. For the second time of the night, Luken Baker hit a solo home run in front of the KLYR building at right field for a 6-4 lead. Three batters later with two outs and a runner on second base, Irving Lopez added an insurance run with a double to right field, scoring Oscar Mercado and it was 7-4 Redbirds. Cruz got Aaron Antonini to fly out toward Simon Muzziotti which ended the inning.
Lehigh Valley had one last shot to win the game against Memphis pitcher Guillermo Zuniga. Zuniga walked Jordan Qsar and Jhailyn Ortiz with one out. Two batters later, he hit Esteban Quiroz on the right foot and Quiroz went down. He gingerly walked off the field as John Hicks replaced him. Weston Wilson was up next but he struck out swinging with the bases loaded.
The IronPigs lost to the Redbirds by the final score of 7-4. They are now trailing the series 3-1. Lehigh Valley center fielder Simon Muzziotti’s 13-game hitting streak came to an end going 0-4. Lehigh Valley finished the night with six hits, 0-6 with runners in scoring position, and left six men on base.
Memphis pitcher Matthew Liberatore won his fourth game of the season, while the loss went to Lehigh Valley pitcher Hans Crouse. Crouse pitched two innings, allowing four hits, two runs, and three strikeouts in 33 pitches, of which 24 were strikes for his third loss of the season.
The IronPigs and Redbirds play game five on Saturday at 6:35 pm. Tickets for the game are available on StubHub and Viagogo. Also, pick up IronPigs merchandise today at Fanatics.com.
