The Lehigh Valley IronPigs (78-64, 42-27) and the Rochester Red Wings (64-75, 30-37) played each other for the final time of the regular season on Sunday afternoon from Innovative Field.
The IronPigs have already won the series but were looking to add one more to keep up with the Durham Bulls for first place in the second-half standings with one week to go in the regular season.
Three transactions occurred before the game. First, the IronPigs moved RHP Drew Hutchison and RHP Brett Schultze to the Development List, and LHP David Parkinson was assigned to the IronPigs from the Reading Fightin’ Phils.
At the top of the first inning, Kody Clemens hit Mengden’s fastball for a solo home run over the wall at center field to put Lehigh Valley up 1-0. It was Clemens’s 18th home run of the season with 49 RBIs. The home run went 411 feet with an exit velocity of 102.9 mph.
Three batters later with two outs, Matt Kroon put the ball down for a base hit to center field but Simon Muzziotti flew out toward center fielder Derek Hill, who made the catch that ended the inning.
Lehigh Valley pitcher Tyler Phillips gave up back-to-back singles to Darren Baker and Derek Hill to begin the bottom of the first inning. Three batters later with two outs, Frankie Tostado put the ball down for a base hit to left field. Simon Muzziotti made a throwing error which the ball got by catcher Aramis Garcia and Baker scored.
The game was tied 1-1. Then, Phillips got Jack Dunn to ground out toward second baseman Esteban Quiroz, who threw the ball to first baseman Darick Hall for the final out of the inning.
At the top of the second inning, Lehigh Valley catcher Aramis Garcia hit Mengden’s changeup for a solo home run over the wall center field to put the IronPigs back on top 2-1. It was Garcia’s 14th home run of the season with 44 RBIs. The home run went 423 feet with an exit velocity of 104.6 mph.
Next, Rochester pitcher Daniel Mengden got three straight groundouts from Esteban Quiroz, Drew Ellis, and Cal Stevenson which ended the inning.
Moving to the top of the third inning, Weston Wilson put the ball down for a base hit to left field with one out for Darick Hall. During Hall’s at-bat, Wilson stole second base. Next, Hall put the ball down for a base hit to left field scoring Wilson for a 3-1 lead. It was Hall’s 54th RBI of the year. Then, Matt Kroon worked a four-pitch walk.
Two batters later with two outs, Aramis Garcia singled on a line drive to left field scoring Hall which made it 4-1 Lehigh Valley. It was Garcia’s 45th RBI of the season. The inning came to an end when Esteban Quiroz was called out on strikes.
In the bottom of the third inning, Tyler Phillips gave up a double to Blake Rutherford, followed by a Jake Noll single with nobody out for Frankie Tostado. Tostado put the ball down for a base hit to right field scoring Rutherford which made it 4-2 Lehigh Valley. Next, Tyler Phillips got Jack Dunn to line out toward right fielder Matt Kroon.
Brady Lindsly was next. Phillips struck out Lindsly while Aramis Garcia threw a dart toward shortstop Weston Wilson to tag out Tostado to complete an inning-ending strikeout double play.
Lehigh Valley could not hold onto the lead in the bottom of the fourth inning. Tyler Phillips walked Darren Baker with two outs. Next, Derek Hill moved Baker to second base with a soft ground ball toward shortstop Weston Wilson with Blake Rutherford up to bat.
Rutherford put the ball down for a double to the corner of left field scoring two runs which tied the game 4-4. Next, Jake Noll hit a line drive to right field scoring Rutherford that put Rochester ahead 5-4. After Phillips gave up a single to Frankie Tostado, Jack Dunn flew out toward right fielder Matt Kroon, who made the catch that ended the inning.
At the top of the fifth inning, Weston Wilson worked a four-pitch walk. Next, Darick Hall hit a high fly ball to left field for his 11th double of the season moving Wilson to third base with nobody out. Two batters later with one out, Simon Muzziotti hit a soft bunt ground ball toward first baseman Frankie Tostado scoring Wilson that tied the game 5-5.
It was Muzziotti’s 61st RBI of the season. Then, Aramis Garcia brought Hall home with a sacrifice fly to center fielder Derek Hill which made it 6-5 Lehigh Valley. It was Garcia’s third RBI of the game. He now has 46 RBIs for the season.
Esteban Quiroz was next. He grounded out toward pitcher Anthony Banda, who threw the ball to first baseman Frankie Tostado and the inning was over.
Jeremy Walker was the new pitcher for Lehigh Valley in the bottom of the fifth inning. Tyler Phillips finished the afternoon pitching four innings, allowing 11 hits, five runs, two walks, and four strikeouts in 79 pitches, of which 50 were strikes. Walker struck out Brady Lindsly and Richie Martin before getting Jordy Barley to line out toward shortstop Weston Wilson which ended the inning.
Lehigh Valley threatened to add more runs at the top of the sixth inning. Lucas Knowles was the new pitcher for Rochester. Drew Ellis started the inning working a four-pitch walk. Next, Cal Stevenson moved Ellis to second base with a single to right field with Kody Clemens up to bat.
However, Clemens grounded into a 6-4-3 double play with Ellis moving to third base. After Weston Wilson walked, Darick Hall grounded toward first baseman Frankie Tostado, who stepped on the first base bag to end the inning.
In the bottom of the sixth inning, Jeremy Walker gave up a single to Darren Baker with Derek Hill up to bat. Hill grounded toward shortstop Weston Wilson for a 4-6-3 double play. Then, Walker got Blake Rutherford to fly out toward left fielder Simon Muzziotti, who made the catch and the inning was over. Walker pitched two innings, allowing one hit with two strikeouts in 24 pitches, of which 16 were strikes.
Tyler McKay was the new pitcher for Lehigh Valley in the bottom of the seventh inning. McKay gave up a single to Frankie Tostado with one out before getting Jack Dunn to ground into an inning-ending 6-4-3 double play.
In the bottom of the eighth inning, Tyler McKay gave up a single to Jordy Barley with two outs before Lehigh Valley replaced him with Taylor Lehman. Darren Baker was up to bat. During his at-bat, Barley stole second base. Next, Baker hit a soft ground ball toward Darick Hall, who tossed the ball toward Lehman but missed him and Barley scored which tied the game again 6-6.
A throwing error was charged to Hall. Then, Lehman got Derek Hill to ground out toward first baseman Darick Hall, who stepped on the first base bag that ended the inning.
At the top of the ninth inning, Darick Hall hit Junior Fernandez’s slider for a solo home run over the right field wall for a 7-6 lead. It was Hall’s 18th home run of the season with 55 RBIs. The home run went 385 feet with an exit velocity of 103.3 mph.
Next, Matt Kroon grounded out toward shortstop Richie Martin before Fernandez struck out Simon Muzziotti and Aramis Garcia which ended the inning.
Connor Brogdon was the new Lehigh Valley pitcher in the bottom of the ninth inning. Once again, Lehigh Valley could not hold onto the lead. Connor Brogdon walked Blake Rutherford to begin the inning. Rutherford was replaced by Erick Mejia. Next, he gave up a single to Jake Noll with nobody out.
Two batters later, the IronPigs elected to intently walk Jack Dunn which loaded the bases for Brady Lindsly. Lindsley brought Mejia home with a sacrifice fly toward right fielder Matt Kroon that tied the game 7-7. Then, Brogdon got Richie Martin to fly out toward left fielder Simon Muzziotti to send the game into extra innings.
Aramis Garcia started the top of the tenth inning at second base with Luis Reyes pitching for Rochester. Esteban Quiroz and Drew Ellis struck out swinging, and Cal Stevenson grounded out softly toward catcher Brady Lindsly, who made the throw to first baseman Frankie Tostado that ended the inning.
Hector Perez was the new pitcher for Lehigh Valley in the bottom of the tenth inning. Perez struck out Jordy Barley, followed by a flyout from Darren Baker, and a groundout from Derek Hill that ended the inning.
Cal Stevenson started the top of the eleventh inning at second base. Kody Clemens walked to start the inning. Next, Weston Wilson popped out toward second baseman Jordy Barley before Darick Hall grounded into an inning-ending 6-4-3 double play.
Moving ahead to the top of the twelfth inning, Scott Kingery started at second base. Matt Kroon moved Kingery to third base with a sacrifice bunt for the first out. Then Simon Muzziotti flew out toward center fielder Derek Hill and Kingery did not run home.
It was a costly error on Kingery’s part. After Aramis Garcia was hit by a pitch, Jim Haley popped out toward second baseman Jordy Barley which ended the inning.
In the bottom of the thirteenth inning, Richie Martin started at second base for Rochester. Jordy Barley moved Martin to third base with a sacrifice bunt toward pitcher Hector Perez.
Darren Baker was up next to bat. He ended the game with a sacrifice fly toward left fielder Simon Muzziotti and the IronPigs lost the finale to the Red Wings by the final score of 8-7. The loss snaps Lehigh Valley’s four-game winning streak. However, the IronPigs won the overall season series 12-7.
The IronPigs made a lot of mental mistakes from fielding errors to base running late in the game. Lehigh Valley finished the afternoon with 11 hits, committed two errors, went 3 for 20 with runners in scoring position, and left 13 men on base.
Meanwhile, Durham lost to Louisville 10-7. The IronPigs remain two games behind them for first place with six games left. Hector Perez lost his first game for the IronPigs, while Tim Cate won his second game for Rochester.
The IronPigs return to Coca-Cola Park for the final homestand of the 2023 season starting on Tuesday against the Worcester Red Sox 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.
