The Lehigh Valley IronPigs (12-20) continued their six-game homestand on Wednesday night against the Syracuse Mets (19-14) from Coca-Cola Park. Lehigh Valley pitcher Michael Mercado (0-0. 0.57 ERA) was on the mound against Syracuse’s Joey Lucchesi (2-1, 2.25 ERA).
At the top of the first inning, Syracuse shortstop Luisangel Acuña started the inning with a double and later scored on a throwing error by Lehigh Valley pitcher Michael Mercado for a 1-0 lead. Moving ahead to the bottom of the third inning, Lehigh Valley had a runner on second base when catcher Cody Roberts hit an RBI single to center field scoring Scott Kingery that tied the game 1-1.
Lehigh Valley starter Michael Mercado pitched five innings, allowing three hits, one run, one walk, and five strikeouts throwing 65 pitches, of which 43 were strikes. Beau Burrows was the new pitcher for Lehigh Valley at the top of the sixth inning.
Burrows walked two straight batters before Mark Vientos hit an RBI single to center field scoring Luisangel Acuña for a 2-1 lead. Two batters later with the bases loaded, Burrows walked Luke Ritter making it 3-1 Syracuse. Burrows got Jose Iglesias to ground into a double play, and a flyout from Trayce Thompson to end the inning.
Moving ahead to the bottom of the seventh inning, Lehigh Valley first baseman Nick Podkul hit Joey Lucchesi’s curveball for an RBI single to center field scoring Weston Wilson cutting the Mets lead down to 3-2.
Then, Lehigh Valley second baseman Jim Haley hit Lucchesi’s sinker for an RBI triple to center field scoring Nick Podkul tying the game up 3-3.
At the top of the eighth inning, Syracuse took a 4-3 lead on a fielder’s choice by Weston Wilson when catcher Cody Roberts missed the catch. Then, Carlos Cortes brought Jose Iglesias’s home with a sacrifice fly to left fielder Matt Kroon for a 5-3 lead.
In the bottom of the eighth inning with two outs, Lehigh Valley center fielder Jordan Luplow hit Justin Jarvis’s fastball for a solo home run over the wall at right field making it 5-4 Syracuse. It was Luplow’s sixth home run of the season.
The IronPigs had one more shot in the bottom of the ninth inning against Josh Walker. Lehigh Valley designated hitter Darick Hall reached second base on a fielding error by left field Luke Ritter. Four batters later, Lehigh Valley had the bases loaded with two outs for Cody Roberts. Unfortunately, Roberts grounded toward shortstop Luisangel Acuña, who threw the ball to first baseman Mark Vientos for the final out of the game.
The IronPigs lost to the Mets by the final score of 5-4. They are now on a five-game losing streak and 2-8 in their last ten games. Lehigh Valley finished the night with eight hits but committed four errors. The loss went to Lehigh Valley pitcher Max Lazar (1.0 IP, 2 H, 2 R) throwing 22 pitchers, of which 16 were strikes.
The win went to Syracuse pitcher Dedniel Núñez (0.2 IP, 1 K) throwing five pitches, of which five were strikes, and Josh Walker (1.0 IP, 2 BB, 1 K) throwing 32 pitches, of which 19 were strikes, earned his third save of the season.
The IronPigs and Mets continue the six-game series on Thursday at 6:45 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.
