The Lehigh Valley IronPigs (23-32) concluded the six-game road on Sunday afternoon against the Columbus Clippers (21-25) from Huntington Park. Lehigh Valley starter David Buchanan (4-3, 5.14 ERA) was on the mound against Columbus’s Xzavion Curry (0-5, 8.79 ERA).
At the top of the first inning, Lehigh Valley designated hitter David Dahl hit Curry’s fastball for a solo home run over the wall at right field for a 1-0 lead. It was Dahl’s 12th home run of the season and 26th RBI of the year. Next, Lehigh Valley left fielder Weston Wilson hit Curry’s slider for a solo home run over the wall at left field for a 2-0 lead. It was Wilson’s eighth home run of the season and 34th RBI of the year.
Two batters later, Lehigh Valley had a runner on second base when catcher Aramis Garcia hit Curry’s slider for a two-run home run over the wall at left-center field extending Lehigh Valley’s lead to 4-0. It was Garcia’s second home run of the season and 13th RBI of the year.
At the top of the second inning, Lehigh Valley had a runner on second base when left fielder Weston Wilson hit an RBI double to center field scoring David Dahl for a 5-0 lead. It was Wilson’s 10th double of the season and 35th RBI of the year.
At the top of the third inning, Lehigh Valley second baseman Esteban Quiroz hit Curry’s slider for a solo home run over the wall at right-center field and the score was now 6-0 IronPigs. It was Quiroz’s third home run of the season and 19th RBI of the year.
Columbus started to make a comeback in the bottom of the third inning. Columbus had runners on second and third base when center fielder Angel Martinez hit a two-run RBI single to right field cutting Lehigh Valley’s lead down to 6-2.
Then, in the bottom of the fourth inning, Columbus had a runner on second base when catcher Dom Nunez hit an RBI double to center field scoring Myles Straw and the score was now 6-3 Lehigh Valley. Columbus third baseman Raynel Delgado was next to bat.
Delgado hit an RBI single to right field scoring Nunez and it was now 6-4 IronPigs with two outs. David Buchanan struck out Jose Tena to end the inning. David Buchanan (4.2 IP, 6 H, 4 R, 2 BB, 4 K) threw 93 pitches, of which 58 were strikes.
At the top of the sixth inning, Lehigh Valley third baseman Nick Podkul hit John Doxakis’s fastball for a solo home run onto the berm at left-center field giving the IronPigs a 7-4 lead. It was Podkul’s third home run of the season and 14th home run of the season.
Lehigh Valley pitcher Zac Houston (1.1 IP, 3 BB, 2 K) threw 31 pitchers, of which 11 were strikes. David Parkinson (2.0 IP, 1 H, 2 BB) replaced him in the bottom of the seventh inning throwing 34 pitches, of which 18 were strikes. In the bottom of the eighth inning with two outs, Columbus had the bases loaded when Jose Tena hit the ball toward center fielder Cal Stevenson, who made a nice diving catch to end the inning.
Lehigh Valley pitcher Andrew Bellatti pitched the bottom of the ninth inning. With one out and a runner on first base, Columbus designated hitter Jhonkensy Noel hit Bellatti’s slider for a two-run home run over the wall at left field and the score was now 7-6 Lehigh Valley. A groundout by George Valera and a flyout from Myles Straw ended the game. The IronPigs defeated the Clippers by the final score of 7-6. They win the series 4-2.
Lehigh Valley finished the afternoon with 10 hits. The win went to Lehigh Valley pitcher Zac Houston. It was his first win of the season and the loss went to Columbus pitcher Xzavion Curry. Lehigh Valley pitcher Andrew Bellatti earned his second save of the season.
Lehigh Valley returns to Coca-Cola Park on Tuesday to begin a six-game homestand against the Buffalo Bisons 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.
