The Lehigh Valley IronPigs (12-21) played game three of a six-game series on Thursday night against the Syracuse Mets (20-14) from Coca-Cola Park. Lehigh Valley pitcher Tyler Phillips (3-1, 3.72 ERA) was on the mound against Syracuse’s Mike Vasil (0-2, 10.80 ERA).
At the top of the first inning, Syracuse had runners on first and second base when third baseman Mark Vientos hit an RBI single to center field scoring Ben Gamel for a 1-0 lead. Vientos made it to second base on a throwing error by Lehigh Valley center fielder Cal Stevenson. Then, left fielder Carlos Cortez grounded out to first baseman Darick Hall allowing Rylan Bannon to score for a 2-0 lead.
In the bottom of the second inning with two outs, Lehigh Valley second baseman Scott Kingery hit Vasil’s fastball for a solo home run into Lehigh Valley’s bullpen at left field cutting the Mets lead down to 2-1. It was Kingery’s sixth home run of the season and 16th RBI of the year. A flyout by Cal Stevenson ended the inning.
Moving ahead to the top of the fourth inning, Syracuse shortstop Jose Iglesias hit Phillips’s curveball for a solo home run over the wall at left-center field for a 3-1 lead. Three batters later, Syracuse had runners on first and second base when second baseman Yolmer Sánchez hit an RBI double to center field scoring Trayce Thompson for a 4-1 lead. Then, a sacrifice fly by Syracuse catcher Hayden Senger brought Mike Brosseau making it 5-1 Mets.
At the top of the sixth inning with one out, Syracuse had runners on first and second base when catcher Hayden Senger hit a two-run single to left field scoring Trayce Thompson and Mike Brosseau for a 7-1 lead. Three batters later, Syracuse third baseman Mark Vientos hit a two-run double to right field scoring Hayden Senger and Ben Gamel for a 9-1 lead. Lehigh Valley right fielder Simon Muzziotti threw the ball to third baseman Esteban Quiroz, who tagged Vientos out ending the inning.
That was it for Lehigh Valley pitcher Tyler Phillips. He finished the night pitching six innings, allowing 10 hits, 9 runs, three walks, and three strikeouts throwing 99 pitches, of which 65 were strikes. Tyler Lehman pitched the top of the seventh inning (1.0 IP) throwing eight pitches, of which seven were strikes.
In the bottom of the seventh inning, Lehigh Valley second baseman Scott Kingery hit Tyler Jay’s sinker for a solo home run over the wall at right field which made it 9-2 Syracuse. It was Kingery’s seventh home run of the season and 17th RBI of the year.
Ricardo Pinto pitched for Lehigh Valley at the top of the eighth inning. He pitched one inning, allowing one hit, one walk, and one strikeout throwing 21 pitches, of which 13 were strikes. In the bottom of the ninth inning, Cole Sulser was the new pitcher for Syracuse.
Sulser gave up a single to Lehigh Valley left fielder Matt Kroon, followed by walking third baseman Esteban Quiroz. However, Lehigh Valley was unable to bring those guys home and the IronPigs lost again to the Syracuse Mets by the final score of 9-2. The series is now 3-0 Syracuse and Lehigh Valley’s losing streak is now at six games.
Lehigh Valley finished the night with six hits and committed two errors. The loss went to Lehigh Valley pitcher Tyler Phillips. It’s his second loss of the season and the win went to Syracuse pitcher Danny Young (0.1 IP, 1 BB) throwing eight pitchers, of which three were strikes.
The IronPigs and Mets play game four on Friday at 7:05 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.
