The Lehigh Valley IronPigs (71-59, 35-22) concluded a six-game series finale on Sunday night against the Syracuse Mets (52-77, 19-36). The IronPigs have dominated this series winning five straight games. On this night, the IronPigs were known as the IronHorses.
The name pays tribute to the first steam locomotives, who were the driving force that transformed the Lehigh Valley from a collection of coal mines and fields to an interconnected web of cities and towns that transformed the region’s economy from local to national.
There were a couple of transactions on Sunday as the IronPigs released RHP Braden Zarbnisky and activated third baseman Matt Kroon from the 7-day injured list. Kroon was in the lineup playing center field.
Nick Nelson (6-2, 4.36 ERA) was on the mound for Lehigh Valley making his 17th start of the season against Syracuse’s Justin Jarvis (0-2, 6.75 ERA).
In the bottom of the first inning with one out, Weston Wilson hit Jarvis’s slider for a solo home run onto the berm at left-center field that put the IronPigs up 1-0. It was Wilson’s 28th home run of the season and 74th RBI of the year. The home run went 400 feet with an exit velocity of 100.7 mph.
Next, Darick Hall worked a four-pitch walk. Two batters later with two outs, Jarvis walked Simon Muzziotti with Aramis Garcia up to bat. Garcia put the ball down for a base hit to center field. Hall raced around third base to score for a 2-0 lead. It was Garcia’s 39th RBI of the year. Jim Haley was next. He struck out swinging which ended the inning.
Moving ahead to the bottom of the second inning, Brewer Hicklen worked a four-pitch walk to start the inning. Two batters later with one out, Jarvis walked Kody Clemens with Weston Wilson up to bat. With the count 3-2, Wilson hit Jarvis’s fastball for a three-run home onto the berm at center field which extended the IronPigs lead to 5-0.
It was Wilson’s 29th home run of the season and 77th RBI of the year. With the home run, Wilson tied Rhys Hoskins for the most home runs in a single season in franchise history. Hoskins hit 29 home runs in 2017. The home run went 423 feet with an exit velocity of 103.4 mph. Darick Hall grounded out toward second baseman Danny Mendick, and Matt Kroon struck out swinging which ended the inning.
Moving ahead to the bottom of the fourth inning with one out, Weston Wilson hit a fly ball to left-center field for a ground-rule double. It was Wilson’s 17th double of the season.
Two batters later with two outs, Matt Kroon put the ball down for a base hit to right field. Weston Wilson hustled around third base to score and Kroon ran to second base for a double. It was now 6-0 Lehigh Valley and Kroon’s third RBI of the season. A groundout by Simon Muzziotti ended the inning.
Moving ahead to the top of the sixth inning, Danny Mendick and Daniel Palka both hit home runs off Nick Nelson which made it 6-2 Lehigh Valley. Nelson got Carlos Cortes to lineout toward center fielder Matt Kroon before striking out Nick Meyer and Michael Perez to end the inning. That was it for Nelson. He pitched six innings, allowing three hits, two runs, two walks, and eight strikeouts in 101 pitches, of which 63 were strikes.
William Woods was the new Syracuse pitcher in the bottom of the sixth inning. Kody Clemens started the inning hitting Woods’s fastball for a solo home run over the wall at right field which made it 7-2 Lehigh Valley. It was Clemens’s 14th home run of the season and 41st RBI of the year. The home run went 352 feet with an exit velocity of 107.6 mph.
Two batters later with one out, Darick Hall put the ball down for a base hit to left field, followed by a single from Matt Kroon to right field. A groundout by Simon Muzziotti, and Aramis Garcia strikeout ended the inning.
Jeremy Walker was the new Lehigh Valley pitcher at the top of the seventh inning. He gave up a single to Chase Estep with one out before getting Jaylen Palmer to lineout toward left fielder Simon Muzziotti and a flyout from Wyatt Young toward center fielder Matt Kroon ended the inning.
Reed Garrett was the new Syracuse pitcher in the bottom of the seventh inning. Jim Haley and Brewer Hicklen both hit singles to start the inning. Two batters later with one out, Kody Clemens grounded into a forceout at second base.
Then, Weston Wilson hit the ball toward third baseman Chase Estep. He threw the ball but it bounced over the glove of first baseman Nick Meyer. Jim Haley scored which made it 8-2 Lehigh Valley.
Darick Hall was next. He put the ball down for a base hit to right field with Clemens scoring that made it 9-2. It was Hall’s 47th RBI of the year. Matt Kroon was next. He hit the ball toward shortstop Wyatt Young, who tossed the ball to second baseman Danny Mendick which ended the inning.
Hector Perez was the new Lehigh Valley pitcher at the top of the eighth inning. He struck out the side throwing 14 pitches, of which ten were strikes. Ben Bowden closed out the game for Lehigh Valley at the top of the ninth inning. He got Nick Meyer to pop out toward first baseman Darick Hall in foul territory, a flyout by Michael Perez, and struck out Joe Suozzi that ended the game.
The Lehigh Valley IronPigs completed a six-game sweep with a 9-2 win over the Mets. The IronPigs won the season series 17-6. Lehigh Valley are now on a six-game winning streak and 6-4 in their last ten games. They remain tied with the Durham Bulls for first place in the second-half standings in the International League East Division with 18 games left of the regular season.
Lehigh Valley finished the night with 14 hits, committed one error, went 4 for 16 with runners in scoring position, and left 11 men on base. Nick Nelson earned his seventh win of the season for Lehigh Valley, while Justin Jarvis lost his fifth game of the year for Syracuse.
The IronPigs hit the road for two weeks starting on Tuesday against the Buffalo Bisons at 6:05 pm on MiLB.com. Tickets for the game are available on StubHub and Viagogo. Also, pick up IronPigs merchandise today at Fanatics.com.
