The Lehigh Valley IronPigs (67-59, 31-22) and the Syracuse Mets (52-73, 19-32) played game two of a six-game series on Wednesday night from Coca-Cola Park. The IronPigs lead the series 1-0.
Drew Hutchison (3-3, 5.90 ERA) was on the mound for Lehigh Valley making his 13th start against Syracuse’s Joey Lucchesi (6-4, 4.46 ERA).
In the bottom of the first inning, Weston Wilson hit Lucchesi’s curveball for a solo home run over the wall at left field to put the IronPigs up 1-0. It was Wilson’s 26th home run of the season and 70th RBI of the year. The home run went 358 feet with an exit velocity of 103.3 mph.
Cristian Pache was next. He grounded out toward second baseman Ronny Mauricio, who threw the ball to first baseman Daniel Palka for the first out. Aramis Garcia struck out on a foul tip, and Kody Clemens flew out toward center fielder Brandon McIlwain, who made the catch to end the inning.
At the top of the second inning with one out, Brandon McIlwain hit Hutchison’s fastball for an opposite-field solo home run over the wall at right field which tied the game 1-1. The home run went 336 feet with an exit velocity of 94.7 mph.
After giving up a single to Joe Suozzi, Hutchison got Nick Meyer to flyout toward right fielder Weston Wilson and a groundout from Wyatt Young toward first baseman Kody Clemens which ended the inning.
In the bottom of the second inning, Syracuse pitcher Joey Lucchesi walked Drew Ellis before Brewer Hicklen put the ball down for a base hit to right field with Ellis moving to second base. Next, Lucchesi walked Weston Wilson, which loaded the bases for Simon Muzziotti.
Muzziotti hit the ball toward second baseman Ronny Mauricio, who tossed the ball to shortstop Wyatt Young to get Weston Wilson out at second base while Drew Ellis scored for a 2-1 Lehigh Valley lead. Then, Scott Kingery flew out toward center fielder Brandon McIlwain. Brewer Hicklen scored to make it 3-1 but McIlwain threw a dart to second baseman Ronny Mauricio to get Muzziotti out at second base which ended the inning.
At the top of the third inning with one out, Drew Hutchison gave up a single to Brett Baty. Daniel Palka was next to bat. On a 3-1 count, Hutchison threw a fastball at Palka and he obliterated it for a two-run home run deep to right field which tied the game 3-3. The home run went 458 feet with an exit velocity of 112.8 mph.
After giving up a single to Carlos Cortes, Hutchison got back-to-back groundouts from Tomas Nido and Brandon McIlwain to end the inning.
Weston Wilson started the bottom of the third inning with a base hit to right field with Cristian Pache up to bat. During Pache’s at-bat, Wilson stole second base and later advanced to third base on a wild pitch. Pache worked a four-pitch walk with Aramis Garcia up to bat.
Garcia brought Wilson home with a sacrifice fly to left fielder Carlos Cortes which put the IronPigs back up 4-3. Kody Clemens was next. He put the ball down for a base hit to left field. Drew Ellis was called out on strikes and Brewer Hicklen lined out toward third baseman Nick Meyer which ended the inning.
At the top of the fifth inning, Drew Hutchison struck out Brewer Hicklen, got Daniel Palka to ground out toward him before throwing it to first baseman Kody Clemens, and struck out Carlos Cortes for the final out of the inning.
That was it for Hutchison, who pitched five innings, allowing six hits, three runs, two walks, and three strikeouts throwing 92 pitches, of which 55 were strikes. Connor Brogdon was the new Lehigh Valley pitcher at the top of the sixth inning. Brogdon pitched one inning committing an error with one walk and two strikeouts throwing 20 pitches, of which 12 were strikes.
Ben Bowden was the new Lehigh Valley pitcher at the top of the seventh inning. He gave up a single to Brett Baty with one out. Two batters later with two outs, he walked Carlos Cortes before striking out Tomas Nido to end the inning. Bowden pitched one inning, allowing one hit, one walk, and three strikeouts in 20 pitches, of which 12 were strikes.
Lehigh Valley threatened to add insurance runs in the bottom of the seventh inning. With one out, Scott Kingery and Weston Wilson both worked on four-pitch walks. However, Cristian Pache lineout toward first baseman Daniel Palka, and Aramis Garcia struck out swinging, ending the inning.
Tyler McKay was the new Lehigh Valley pitcher at the top of the eighth inning. He gave up a single to Brandon McIlwain before getting three straight groundouts from Joe Suozzi, Nick Meyer, and Wyatt Young to end the inning.
Reed Garrett was the new pitcher for Syracuse in the bottom of the eighth inning. Kody Clemens was the first to face him. On the first pitch, Clemens hit Garrett’s fastball for a solo home run just inside the foul pole at right field which made it 5-3 Lehigh Valley.
It was Clemens’s 12th home run of the year and 34th RBI of the year. The home run went 386 feet with an exit velocity of 104.4 mph. Next, Drew Ellis worked a four-pitch walk. Two batters later with one out, Jim Haley grounded into a 4-3 inning-ending double play.
Luis Ortiz closed out the game for Lehigh Valley at the top of the ninth inning. He got Ronny Mauricio to ground out toward a diving shortstop Scott Kingery, who made the throw to first baseman Kody Clemens for the first out. Next, he struck out Brett Baty before getting Daniel Palka to line out toward left fielder Cristian Pache, who made the catch to end the game.
The IronPigs defeated the Mets by the final score of 5-3. Lehigh Valley finished the night with six hits, went 0 for 7 with runners in scoring position, and left five men on base. Drew Hutchison won his fourth game of the year for Lehigh Valley, while Joey Lucchesi lost his fifth game of the season for Syracuse.
The IronPigs and Mets play game three on Thursday 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.
