The Lehigh Valley (74-63, 38-26) visited Innovative Field for the final road series of the 2023 season on Tuesday night against the Rochester Red Wings (63-72, 29-33). The IronPigs lead the overall series 8-5. The conditions were not great at Innovative Field as the rain had begun to fall prior to the game beginning, leading to a weather delay. The rain continued all through the game.
Before the game, the Philadelphia Phillies recalled RHP Yunior Marte from the Lehigh Valley IronPigs and optioned RHP Andrew Bellatti to Lehigh Valley.
Tyler Phillips (0-1, 3.38 ERA) was on the mound for Lehigh Valley making his eighth start of the season against Rochester’s Cory Abbott (2-4, 5.47 ERA).
After a scoreless first inning, Rochester blew the game open in the bottom of the second inning. Rochester designated hitter Jake Noll started the inning with a double to right field, followed by Phillips walking Frankie Tostado.
Next, Jack Dunn moved both runners up a base with a sacrifice bunt toward pitcher Tyler Phillips. However, a fielding error by Phillips allowed Dunn to reach first base safely. The bases were loaded for Erick Mejia. He hit the ball softly toward shortstop Weston Wilson and everyone was safe. It was 1-0 Rochester with Brady Lindsly up to bat.
Lindsly put the ball down for a base hit to left field bringing home Tostado for a 2-0 lead. Jeter Downs was next. He singled on a ground ball to center field scoring Dunn that made it 3-0. Next, Darren Baker grounded toward second baseman Jim Haley, who made the throw to first baseman Darick Hall for the first out but Mejia scored for a 4-0 lead.
Then, Derek Hill brought Brady Lindsly home with a sacrifice fly toward right fielder Dustin Peterson. It was now 5-0 Rochester. Blake Rutherford was next. He put the ball down for a base hit to right field scoring Downs for a 6-0 lead. Lehigh Valley replaced Tyler Phillips with Jeremy Walker. Walker got Jake Noll to hit the ball toward second baseman Jim Haley for the forceout at second base which ended the inning.
Tyler Phillips pitched 1.2 innings, allowing five hits, six runs, three earned runs, one walk, and three strikeouts in 51 pitches, of which 33 were strikes. Jeremy Walker pitched 2.1 innings, with one strikeout in 29 pitches, of which 17 were strikes.
Moving ahead to the bottom of the fifth inning, Brett Schultze was the new Lehigh Valley pitcher. He hit Blake Rutherford with one out. Next, he got Jake Noll to line out toward left fielder Simon Muzziotti before striking out Frankie Tostado which ended the inning.
Lehigh Valley’s offense was quiet through seven innings. They had no hits with five flyouts and four groundouts. The only player to reach a base was Jim Haley at the top of the third inning working a four-pitch walk.
However, that changed at the top of the eighth inning. Luis Reyes was the new pitcher for Rochester. With one out, Matt Kroon hit a chopper toward shortstop Jeter Downs, who had no play and Kroon made it to first base which ended Rochester’s bid for a no-hitter.
Next, Rafael Marchan put the ball down for a base hit center field moving Kroon to second base. Two batters later with two outs, Esteban Quiroz hit his 17th double of the season to left field scoring Kroon and Marchan which made it 6-2 Rochester. In addition, it was Quiroz’s 56th RBI of the year. After Kody Clemens drew a four-pitch walk, Weston Wilson was called out on strikes that ended the inning.
Lehigh Valley had one last attempt to get back into the game at the top of the ninth inning. Gerson Moreno was pitching for Rochester. Darick Hall drew a four-pitch walk to start the inning. Two batters later with one out, Simon Muzziotti hit his 22nd double of the season to right field with Matt Kroon up to bat. Kroon hit an infield single toward shortstop Jeter Downs scoring Hall which made it 6-3 Rochester. It was Kroon’s fifth RBI of the season.
Next, Rafael Marchan brought Muzziotti home with a sacrifice fly toward left fielder Jack Dunn. It was now 6-4 Rochester and Marchan’s 27th RBI of the season. Jim Haley was the last hope. He hit a high fly ball that nearly went for a home run but right fielder Blake Rutherford caught it that ended the game.
The IronPigs drop game one to the Red Wings by the final score of 6-4. They have now lost two straight games. Lehigh Valley finished the night with five hits, went 2 for 5 with runners in scoring position, and left four men on base. Tyler Phillips lost his second game of the year for Lehigh Valley, while Cory Abbott won his third game of the season for Rochester.
The IronPigs and Red Wings play game two on Wednesday 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.
