The Lehigh Valley IronPigs (5-5) reached the halfway point of the six-game homestand on Friday night against the Durham Bulls (5-8) from Coca-Cola Park. Lehigh Valley pitcher Mick Abel (0-0, 5.40 ERA) was on the mound against Durham’s Jacob Lopez (2-0, 2.70 ERA).
Lehigh Valley erupted with six runs in the bottom of the first inning. Lehigh Valley right fielder Jordan Luplow hit Lopez’s sinker for a solo home run over the wall at right-center field for a 1-0 lead.
Next, the IronPigs had runners on first and second base when catcher Aramis Garcia hit Lopez’s sinker for an RBI single to left field scoring Kody Clemens for a 2-0 lead. Then, Lehigh Valley third baseman Esteban Quiroz brought Weston Wilson home with a ground out which made it 3-0. After Quiroz, Lehigh Valley first baseman Nick Podkul popped up but second baseman C.J. Hinojosa missed the catch for an RBI double and a 4-0 lead.
Lehigh Valley shortstop Scott Kingery was next. He smashed Lopez’s sinker for a two-run home run over the wall left-center field which made it 6-0.
At the top of the second inning, Durham cut the IronPigs lead down to 6-1 on an RBI single by Osleivis Basabe. Lehigh Valley would get the run back in the bottom of the second inning when Kody Clemens grounded into a forceout at second base scoring Matt Kroon for a 7-1 lead.
Durham came back at the top of the third inning when Tristan Peters hit Abel’s fastball for a three-run home run over the wall at right-center field cutting the IronPigs lead down to 7-4. Luckily, those were the last runs scored by Durham for the night.
Lehigh Valley scored two more runs. In the bottom of the fourth inning, Jordan Luplow collected his second RBI of the night with a single to third baseman Ronny Simon scoring Scott Kingery for an 8-4 lead.
Finally, in the bottom of the eighth inning, Lehigh Valley shortstop Scott Kingery hit Joe Record’s sinker for a solo home run over the wall at right-center field making it 9-4. Michael Mercado pitched the top of the ninth inning to get the final three outs and Lehigh Valley tied the series with a 9-4 win over the Durham Bulls.
The win went to Lehigh Valley pitcher Mick Abel, who pitched five innings, allowing six hits, four runs, two walks, and five strikeouts throwing 88 pitches, of which 51 were strikes. The loss went to Durham starter Jacob Lopez (0.2 IP, 5 H, 6 R, 1 BB) throwing 40 pitches, of which 27 were strikes.
The IronPigs and Bulls continue their series with game five on Saturday at 6:35 pm on MiLB.com. Purchase IronPigs tickets for the 2024 season today on StubHub and Viagogo. Also, pick up IronPigs merchandise today at Fanatics.com.
