The Lehigh Valley IronPigs (6-5) continued their six-game homestand on Saturday night against the Durham Bulls (5-9) from Coca-Cola Park. Lehigh Valley pitcher Tyler Phillips (0-1, 6.52 ERA) was on the mound against Durham’s Adam Leverett (0-0, 0.00 ERA).
At the top of the second inning, Durham took a 1-0 lead on an RBI single to center field by Ruben Cardenas. That was the only run scored by Durham in this game. In the bottom of the third inning, Lehigh Valley right field Jordan Luplow hit Leverett’s sinker for a solo home run over the wall at right-center field tying the game 1-1. It was his second home run of this series.
In the bottom of the fourth inning, Lehigh Valley first baseman David Dahl hit Leverett’s cutter for a solo home run over the wall at right-center field taking a 2-1 lead. It was Dahl’s second home run of the season.
Lehigh Valley continued to add runs in the bottom of the seventh inning. With runners on first and second base, center fielder Cal Stevenson hit a sacrifice bunt to third baseman Ronny Simon. However, Simon overthrew first baseman Dominic Smith as Simon Muzziotti scored extending Lehigh Valley’s lead to 3-1.
Two batters later, third baseman Kody Clemens hit Edwin Uceta’s changeup for a two-run double to center field scoring Scott Kingery and Cal Stevenson for a 5-1 lead. It was Clemens’s third double of the season.
In the bottom of the eighth inning, Lehigh Valley center fielder Cal Stevenson hit Enmanuel Mejia’s fastball for an RBI single to left field scoring David Dahl for a 6-1 lead.
Lehigh Valley pitcher José Ruiz pitched the final two innings getting the final six outs of the game and the IronPigs take the series lead with a 6-1 win over the Durham Bulls.
The win went to Lehigh Valley pitcher Tyler Phillips (7.0 IP, 5 H, 1 R, 3 BB, 2 K) throwing 93 pitches, of which 64 were strikes. The loss went to Durham pitcher Adam Leverett (4.0 IP, 4 H, 2 R, 2 K) throwing 52 pitches, of which 34 were strikes.
The IronPigs conclude the six-game homestand against the Bulls on Sunday at 1:35 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.
