The Lehigh Valley IronPigs (10-12) took on the Charlotte Knights (11-13) from Coca-Cola Park on Friday night in game four of a six-game homestand. The IronPigs are 1-2 against Charlotte in this series. Lehigh Valley pitcher Michael Mercado (0-0, 0.00 ERA) was on the mound against Charlotte’s Jared Shuster (0-1, 9.00 ERA).
Lehigh Valley struck first in the bottom of the second inning. Shortstop Weston Wilson started the inning working a four-pitch walk, followed by Scott Kingery moving him to second base with a sacrifice bunt to first baseman Carlos Pérez.
Two batters later, Lehigh Valley center fielder Cal Stevenson hit Shuster’s slider for an RBI double to center field scoring Wilson to take a 1-0 lead. It was Stevenson’s third double of the season and third RBI of the year. With two outs, Matt Kroon grounded out which ended the inning.
Lehigh Valley pitcher Michael Mercado pitched 3.2 innings, with no hits, no runs, one walk, and four strikeouts throwing 48 pitches, of which 29 were strikes. Kolby Allard was the new pitcher for the IronPigs at the top of the fifth inning.
At the top of the sixth inning, Charlotte had a runner on first base when Oscar Colás hit Allard’s cutter for an RBI single to left field tying the game 1-1.
Two batters later with runners on second and third base, Charlotte right fielder Zach DeLoach hit Allard’s fastball for an RBI single to first baseman Darick Hall for a 2-1 lead. Then, Allard was called for a balk and Carlos Pérez scored extending Charlotte’s lead to 3-1.
The call led IronPigs manager Anthony Contreras to get ejected from the game by first base umpire Edwin Jimenez. After Allard gave up a single to Adam Hackenberg, he struck out Angelo Castellano, Wynton Bernard, and Brett Phillips to end the inning.
Tyler McKay was the new pitcher for Lehigh Valley at the top of the seventh inning. Charlotte had runners on first and second base when catcher Adam Hackenberg reached first base on a fielding error by shortstop Weston Wilson scoring Colson Montgomery for a 4-1 Knights lead.
Dalton Roach was the new pitcher for Charlotte in the bottom of the seventh inning. With the bases loaded for Lehigh Valley, Roach walked Kody Clemens, Aramis Garcia, and Darick Hall which tied the game 4-4 with one out. Both Weston Wilson and Scott Kingery struck out with the bases loaded ending the inning.
Moving ahead to the top of the tenth inning, Charlotte had a runner on second base when Brett Phillips hit an RBI triple to right field to give them a 5-4 lead. Then, a sacrifice fly by Lenyn Sosa made it 6-4 Charlotte.
In the bottom of the tenth inning, Charlotte pitcher Justin Anderson threw a wild pitch moving Weston Wilson to third base and walked Esteban Quiroz with one out. However, Cal Stevenson and Simon Muzziotti struck out ending the game. The IronPigs lose to the Knights by the final score of 6-4.
The loss went to Lehigh Valley pitcher Griff McGarry (1.0 IP, 1 H, 2 R) throwing 17 pitches, of which 12 were strikes, while the win went to Charlotte’s Aaron McGarity (2.0 IP, 1 H, 1 BB, 2 K) throwing 22 pitches, of which 16 were strikes, and Justin Anderson earned his fourth save of the season.
The IronPigs and Knights continue the six-game series on Saturday 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 and Rally House.
