The Lehigh Valley IronPigs (66-59, 30-22) returned to Coca-Cola Park for the second-to-last homestand of the season on Tuesday against the Syracuse Mets (52-72, 19-31). This is the fourth and final series meeting between these two teams with the IronPigs up 11-6 in the overall series. Lehigh Valley came into this game on a four-game losing streak and 4-6 in their last ten games.
Nick Nelson (6-2, 3.88 ERA) was on the mound for Lehigh Valley making his 16th start of the season against Syracuse’s Justin Jarvis (0-2, 5.65 ERA).
At the top of the first inning, Nick Nelson gave up back-to-back singles to Wyatt Young and Ronny Mauricio. Two batters later with one out, Nelson gave up another single to Daniel Palka with Carlos Cortes up to bat.
On a 3-2 count, Nelson threw a fastball in which Cortes crushed it for a grand slam onto the berm at center field for a 4-0 Syracuse lead. The home run went 424 feet with an exit velocity of 106.6 mph. Nelson struck out Brandon McIlwain and got Michael Perez to ground out toward first baseman Darick Hall for the final out of the inning.
Lehigh Valley started to battle back in the bottom of the second inning. Cristian Pache started the inning by hitting a double to right field, followed by a Simon Muzziotti single to left field which moved Pache to third base.
Two batters later with one out, Esteban Quiroz grounded toward second baseman Ronny Mauricio, who threw the ball to first baseman Nick Meyer while Pache scored which made it 4-1 Syracuse. It was Quiroz’s 50th RBI of the season. Cal Stevenson was next to bat with two outs.
Stevenson put the ball down for a base hit to right field which brought Muzziotti home and it was now 4-2 Syracuse. It was Stevenson’s 23rd RBI of the year. Jim Haley had a chance to keep the inning going but struck out swinging which ended the inning.
Moving ahead to the bottom of the third inning, Syracuse pitcher Justin Jarvis loaded the bases by walking Kody Clemens, Weston Wilson, and Darick Hall with Cristian Pache up to bat. Pache hit the ball toward third baseman Brett Baty, who made a heads-up play by throwing the ball to catcher Michael Perez for the forceout at home plate.
Simon Muzziotti was next. Muzziotti put the ball down for a base hit to center field with Wilson and Hall scoring that tied the game 4-4. It was Muzziotti’s 53rd RBI of the year. Rafael Marchan struck out and Esteban Quiroz popped out in foul territory which was caught by third baseman Brett Baty that ended the inning.
Syracuse would get those four runs back in the next couple of the innings. At the top of the fifth inning, Nick Nelson gave up a double to Daniel Palka with one out for Carlos Cortes. For the second time in the game, Cortes hit Nelson’s fastball for a two-run home run over the wall at right field for a 6-4 lead. The home run went 389 feet and the exit velocity was 106 mph.
After Nelson walked Brandon McIlwain, Nelson was replaced by Braden Zarbnisky. With two outs, Zarbnisky gave up a double to Joe Suozzi before getting Nick Meyer to ground out toward third baseman Esteban Quiroz, who threw the ball to first baseman Darick Hall to end the inning.
Nick Nelson finished the game pitching 4.1 innings, allowing eight runs, six runs, two walks, and six strikeouts in 100 pitches, of which 56 were strikes.
At the top of the sixth inning, Zarbnisky walked Wyatt Young before giving up an opposite-field two-run home run to Ronny Mauricio that went into Syracuse’s bullpen at left field. It was now 8-4 Syracuse. The home run went 395 feet with an exit velocity of 105 mph.
After getting Brett Baty to ground out toward second baseman Kody Clemens, Zarbnisky was replaced by Taylor Lehman. Lehman got Daniel Palka to pop out toward second baseman Kody Clemens for the second out followed by a Carlos Cortes ground out toward first baseman Darick Hall which ended the inning.
Braden Zarbnisky finished the game pitching one inning, allowing two hits, two runs, and one walk in 25 pitches, of which 13 were strikes. Taylor Lehman pitched 0.2 inning throwing six pitches, of which three were strikes.
In the bottom of the sixth inning, Eric Orze was the new pitcher for Syracuse. Esteban Quiroz started the inning working a four-pitch walk. Next, Cal Stevenson moved Quiroz to second base with a single to center field. Then, Orze walked Jim Haley to load the bases for Kody Clemens.
Clemens hit the ball toward second baseman Ronny Mauricio for the forceout at second base but Quiroz scored which made it 8-5 Syracuse. After Orze walked Weston Wilson, Syracuse changed pitchers with Dedniel Nunoz replacing Eric Orze.
Two batters later with two outs, Pache hit Nunoz’s fastball for a base hit that one-hopped before deflecting off the chest of third baseman Brett Baty and into left field scoring two runs which made it 8-7 Syracuse. It was Pache’s sixth RBI of the season. Simon Muzziotti was next but he popped out toward third baseman Brett Baty which ended the inning.
Moving ahead to the bottom of the eighth inning, Grant Hartwig was the new Syracuse pitcher. He gave up back-to-back singles to Kody Clemens and Weston Wilson. Two batters later with one out, Hartwig walked Cristian Pache which loaded the bases for Simon Muzziotti.
Muzziotti hit Hartwig’s cutter for a base hit to center field scoring Clemens which tied the game 8-8. It was Muzziotti’s 54th RBI of the year. Rafael Marchan was next. He hit a high fly ball to right field which right fielder Joe Suozzi made a leaping catch near the wall and Wilson scored to give the IronPigs their first lead of the game 9-8.
It was Marchan’s 16th RBI of the season. Esteban Quiroz was next with two outs but he flew out toward center fielder Brandon McIlwain for the final out of the inning.
Yunior Marte closed out the game for the IronPigs at the top of the ninth inning. He struck out Daniel Palka, followed by walking Carlos Cortes. Next, he got Brandon McIlwain to ground into a forceout at second base. There were now two outs with Michael Perez up to bat.
Perez flew out toward right fielder Cal Stevenson, who made the catch to end the game. The IronPigs snapped a four-game losing streak with a 9-8 win over the Mets.
This was a hard-fought win by the IronPigs when it looked like they were out of the game after five innings. Simon Muzziotti had a great night going 3-4 with two singles and three RBIs.
Lehigh Valley finished the night with 11 hits, went 5 for 18 with runners in scoring position, and left ten men on base. Yunior Marte won his third game of the season for the IronPigs, while Grant Hartwig lost his third game of the year for Syracuse.
The IronPigs and Mets play game two on Wednesday at 6:45 pm on MiLB.com. Tickets for the game are available on StubHub and Viagogo. Also, pick up IronPigs merchandise today at Fanatics.com.
