The Lehigh Valley IronPigs (69-59, 33-22) and the Syracuse Mets (52-75, 19-34) played game four of a six-game series on Friday night from Coca-Cola Park. The IronPigs lead the series 3-0 coming into this game.
There was one transaction report that happened earlier today as the Philadelphia Phillies activated outfielder Cristian Pache from the 10-day injured list.
Shaun Anderson (2-2, 6.66 ERA) was on the mound for Lehigh Valley making his eighth start of the season against Syracuse’s Mike Vasil (3-2, 4.63 ERA).
Lehigh Valley struck first in the bottom of the second inning. With one out, Dustin Peterson crushed Vasil’s fastball for a solo home run hitting the Capital Blue Tiki Terrance & Oasis roof for a 1-0 lead. As soon as Peterson made contact with the baseball, he knew it was gone. It was his 19th home run of the season and 45th RBI of the year.
The home run went 414 feet with an exit velocity of 103.2 mph. Darick Hall struck out swinging, and Aramis Garcia grounded out toward shortstop Wyatt Young, who made the throw to first baseman Daniel Palka which ended the inning.
Lehigh Valley busted the game open in the bottom of the second inning. Drew Ellis started the inning with a double to left field. Two batters later with one out, Vasil walked Cal Stevenson and Brewer Hicklen, which loaded the bases for Scott Kingery.
Kingery hit the ball toward third baseman Chase Estep. He snagged the ball with his glove before sprinting toward third base and diving at the bag to get Stevenson out. Drew Ellis scored which made it 2-0 Lehigh Valley. It was Kingery’s 43rd RBI of the year.
Simon Muzziotti was next. On a 2-1 count, Muzziotti hit Vasil’s changeup for a double on a sharp line drive to right field. Brewer Hicklen scored which made it 3-0. It was Muzziotti’s 20th double of the season and 58th RBI of the year.
Dustin Peterson was next. He hit Vasil’s changeup for a two-run single to left field. Scott Kingery and Simon Muzziotti scored which made it 5-0 Lehigh Valley. It was Peterson’s 47th RBI of the season.
After Darick Hall put the ball down for a base hit, the Mets changed pitchers with Matt Minnick replacing Mike Vasil. Minnick got Aramis Garcia to fly out toward left fielder Carlos Cortes, who made the catch to end the inning.
Syracuse got on the board at the top of the third inning. With two outs, Shaun Anderson threw a fastball at Jaylen Palmer. Palmer hit a solo home run to the corner of left field near the foul pole. It was now 5-1 Lehigh Valley and Palmer’s first career Triple-A home run. The home run went 368 feet with an exit velocity of 97.5 mph.
Lehigh Valley threatened again in the bottom of the fourth inning. Matt Minnick walked Simon Muzziotti to begin the inning. Two batters later with one out, Darick Hall grounded sharply to first baseman Daniel Palka to move Muzziotti to second base with two outs for Aramis Garcia.
On a 3-2 count, Minnick tried to get Garcia to chase his slider but he didn’t budge and the ball got away from catcher Tomas Nido. Garcia walked and Muzziotti ran to third base with Drew Ellis up to bat. Ellis flew out toward center fielder Jaylen Palmer, who made the catch to end the inning.
Moving ahead to the bottom of the seventh inning, Lehigh Valley almost scored again. Tyler Thomas was the new pitcher for Syracuse. Drew Ellis started the inning hitting a pop-up. There was a scramble as nobody from the Mets called for the ball and it dropped in front of first baseman Daniel Palka. Drew Ellis ran to second base for a double.
Next, Jim Haley moved Ellis to third base with a ground out toward first baseman Daniel Palka with Cal Stevenson up to bat. Stevenson hit the ball toward Tyler Thomas and caught Ellis running to home plate. Ellis was tagged out and Stevenson made it to first base. A flyout by Brewer Hicklen ended the inning.
Moving to the top of the eighth inning, Lehigh Valley pitcher Shaun Anderson got Nick Meyer to ground out toward shortstop Scott Kingery, who threw the ball to first baseman Darick Hall. Next, Anderson gave up a single to Chase Estep. Two batters later with two outs, Anderson gave up another single to Wyatt Young moving Estep to third base.
Then, Anderson got Carlos Cortes to ground out toward shortstop Scott Kingery, who made the throw to first baseman Darick Hall which ended the inning. That was it for Anderson, who pitched a quality game going eight innings, allowing four hits, one run, one walk, and seven strikeouts in 93 pitches, of which 66 were strikes.
Yunior Marte closed out the game for Lehigh Valley at the top of the eighth inning. He gave up a single to Daniel Palka to start the inning. Next, Brandon McIlwain grounded toward shortstop Scott Kingery for the first out. Then, Tomas Nido flew out toward center fielder Cal Stevenson.
Joe Suozzi was the last hope for Syracuse. He hit the ball toward Darick Hall, who stepped on the first base bag and the game was over. The IronPigs defeated the Mets by the final score of 5-1. The IronPigs have won the series with two games remaining.
Dustin Peterson went 2-5 with a home run and three RBIs. Lehigh Valley finished the night with eight hits, went 2 for 15 with runners in scoring position, and left ten men on base. Shaun Anderson won his third game of the season for Lehigh Valley, and Mike Vasil lost his third game of the year for Syracuse.
The IronPigs and Mets play game five on Saturday at 6:35 pm on MiLB.com. Tickets for the game are available on StubHub and Viagogo. Also, pick up IronPigs merchandise today at Fanatics.com.
