The Lehigh Valley IronPigs (7-6) started a six-game road trip at PNC Field on Tuesday night against the Scranton/Wilkes-Barre RailRiders (10-5) in their first meeting of the season. Lehigh Valley pitcher Taijuan Walker (0-0, 0.00 ERA) was on the mound making a rehab start against Scranton/Wilkes-Barre’s Tanner Tully (0-1, 9.00 ERA).
At the top of the first inning, Lehigh Valley catcher Aramis Garcia hit a ground ball RBI to left field scoring Matt Kroon for a 1-0 lead with two outs.
Next, Lehigh Valley first baseman Darick Hall hit Tully’s slider for a two-run single off the wall at right field scoring Kody Clemens and Aramis Garcia for a 3-0. However, Hall got tagged out attempting to reach second base.
In the bottom of the first inning, a throwing error on a pickoff attempt by Lehigh Valley pitcher Taijuan Walker scored Caleb Durbin as Scranton/Wilkes-Barre cut Lehigh Valley’s lead down to 3-1. Moving ahead to the top of the sixth inning, Lehigh Valley third baseman Esteban Quiroz worked a four-pitch walk with the bases loaded making it 4-1 IronPigs.
Then, at the top of the seventh inning, Lehigh Valley left fielder Weston Wilson brought Jordan Luplow home with a sacrifice fly to center field making it 5-1.
Moving ahead to the top of the ninth inning, Lehigh Valley second baseman Kody Clemens put an exclamation point hitting Cody Morris’s changeup for a two-run home run over the wall at right field making it 7-1. Lehigh Valley pitcher David Buchanan got the final three outs and the IronPigs defeated the Scranton/Wilkes-Barre RailRiders by the final score of 7-1.
Lehigh Valley pitcher Taijuan Walker pitched 4.2 innings, allowing three hits, one run, three walks, and one strikeout in 78 pitches, of which 48 were strikes. Michael Mercado (0.1 IP, 1 H, 2 BB) threw 20 pitches, of which 10 were strikes.
The win went to Lehigh Valley pitcher David Buchanan (4.0 IP, 1 H, 4 K) throwing 46 pitches, of which 34 were strikes, and the loss went to Scranton/Wilkes-Barre pitcher Tanner Tully (2.2 IP, 7 H, 3 R, 1 K).
The IronPigs and RailRiders continue their six-game series on Wednesday at 6:35 pm on MiLB.TV. Purchase IronPigs tickets for the 2024 season today on StubHub and Viagogo. Also, pick up IronPigs merchandise today at Fanatics.com.
