The Lehigh Valley IronPigs (70-59, 34-22) took on the Syracuse Mets (52-76, 19-35) in game five of a six-game series on Saturday night from Coca-Cola Park. The IronPigs lead the series 4-0.
There were a couple of transactions that took place on Saturday. RHP Noah Skirrow was moved to the Development List and RHP Brett Schulze was activated from the Development List and rejoined the IronPigs roster.
Michael Plassmeyer (1-4, 6.38 ERA) was on the mound for Lehigh Valley making his 12th start in 13 games against Syracuse’s David Griffin (2-4, 6.92 ERA).
At the top of the first inning with two outs, Daniel Palka hit Plassmeyer’s fastball for a solo home run deep to right field that put Syracuse up 1-0. It was Palka’s 14th home run of the season. The home run went 436 feet with an exit velocity of 108.7 mph. Plassmeyer struck out Tomas Nido which ended the inning.
Moving ahead to the bottom of the second inning, Lehigh Valley almost tied the game. Rafael Marchan put the ball down for a double to right field with one out for Drew Ellis. Ellis moved Marchan to third base with a single to left field. Esteban Quiroz was next. However, he grounded into an inning-ending 6-3 double play.
However, Lehigh Valley would strike in the bottom of the third inning. Cal Stevenson doubled on a sharp fly ball to center field with one out. It was his fifth double of the season. Kody Clemens was next. He hit Griffin’s changeup for a double to center field scoring Stevenson which tied the game 1-1.
Next, Weston Wilson hit a high fly ball off the top of the wall at center field for a triple. Kody Clemens scored which put Lehigh Valley ahead 2-1. It was Wilson’s third triple of the season and 73rd RBI of the year.
Two batters later with one out, Dustin Peterson brought Wilson home with a sacrifice fly to left field which made it 3-1. It was Peterson’s 48th RBI of the year. Lehigh Valley did not add any more runs in the inning.
Lehigh Valley blew the game wide open in the bottom of the fourth inning. Drew Ellis started the inning hitting his 14th double of the season to left field. Next, Esteban Quiroz put the ball down for a base hit to left field moving Ellis to third base. Then, Scott Kingery worked a four-pitch walk which loaded the bases for Cal Stevenson.
Stevenson hit Griffin’s sinker on a sharp line drive to right field, bringing Ellis home. It was now 4-1 Lehigh Valley and Stevenson’s 25th RBI of the year.
Kody Clemens was next. On the first pitch, Griffin threw a changeup at Clemens. Clemens crushed it deep to right field for a grand slam that made it an 8-1 Lehigh Valley lead. Clemens now has 13 home runs and 39 RBIs. In addition, this was his second grand slam of the season.
Weston Wilson was next. He popped up toward first baseman Daniel Palka. Palka could not find the ball and it dropped in front of him with Wilson reaching first base for a single. A Darick Hall pop-up and Dustin Peterson grounded into a 4-3 double play ended the inning.
Moving ahead to the top of the sixth inning, Braden Zarbnisky was the new Lehigh Valley pitcher. Michael Plassmeyer finished the night pitching five innings, allowing two hits, one run, one walk, and seven strikeouts in 64 pitches, of which 45 were strikes. Zarbnisky struck out Nick Meyer and Brandon McIlwain before getting Daniel Palka to flyout toward center fielder Cal Stevenson, who made the catch that ended the inning.
Syracuse battled back at the top of the seventh inning. Zarbnisky gave up a single to Tomas Nido to start the inning with Wyatt Young up to bat. On a 1-0 count, Young hit Zarbnisky’s fastball for a two-run home run over the wall at right-center field, which made it an 8-3 Lehigh Valley lead.
The home run went 388 feet with an exit velocity of 99.6 mph. Two batters later with one out, Joe Suozzi put the ball down for a base hit to center field. Next, Chase Estep doubled on a sharp line drive to center field with Jaylen Palmer up to bat.
With the count 2-2, Palmer hit Zarbnisky’s curveball for a three-run home run over the wall at left-center field, making it 8-6 Lehigh Valley. That was it for Zarbnisky, who was replaced by Tyler McKay. McKay gave up a single to Nick Meyer before striking out Brandon McIlwain and Daniel Palka, which ended the inning.
Lehigh Valley started to get those runs back in the next two innings. In the bottom of the seventh inning, Dustin Peterson doubled on a sharp line drive to left field with two outs. It was his 12th double of the season.
Then, Rafael Marchan put the ball down for a base hit to left field scoring Peterson making it 9-6 Lehigh Valley. It was Marchan’s 13th RBI of the season. Drew Ellis struck out swinging which ended the inning.
In the bottom of the eighth inning, Sam Coonrod was the new pitcher for Syracuse. Esteban Quiroz started the inning with a solo home run off the KLYR sign at right field for a 10-6 lead. It was Quiroz’s seventh home run of the season and 53rd RBI of the year. The home run went 386 feet with an exit velocity of 106.9 mph.
Scott Kingery was next. He hit a sharp line drive to right field for a triple. It was his third triple of the season. Kody Clemens was next. He doubled on a high fly ball off the wall at center field scoring Kingery that made it 11-6 Lehigh Valley. It was Clemens’s sixth RBI of the night, which is a new season high for an IronPigs batter.
Next, Weston Wilson worked a four-pitch walk with Darick Hall coming to the plate. Hall obliterated the baseball for a three-run home run that nearly left the stadium for a 14-6 lead. It was Hall’s 16th home run of the season and the 46th RBI of the year. The home run went 409 feet with an exit velocity of 108.5 mph.
After the home run, the Mets changed pitchers with Hunter Parsons replacing Sam Coonrod. Dustin Peterson popped out for the second. Two batters later, Drew Ellis struck out swinging which ended the inning.
Luis Ortiz was the pitcher for Lehigh Valley at the top of the ninth inning. He gave up a single to Nick Meyer with one out. A flyout by Brandon McIlwain and a ground out by Daniel Palka ended the game. The IronPigs defeated the Mets by the final score of 14-6. They are now on a five-game winning streak, and 9-1 in their last ten games.
Kody Clemens had a great night going 3-5 with a grand slam and six RBIs. Lehigh Valley finished the night with 16 hits, 9 for 13 with runners in scoring position, and left four men on base. Lehigh Valley pitcher Michael Plassmeyer won his second game of the season, while David Griffin lost his fifth game of the year for Syracuse.
The IronPigs and Mets will play each other for the final time of the season on Sunday 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.
