The Lehigh Valley IronPigs (28-35) played game two of a six-game road trip at NBT Bank Stadium on Wednesday afternoon against the Syracuse Mets (39-25). Lehigh Valley starter Ricardo Pinto (1-1, 4.63) was on the mound against Syracuse’s Christian Scott (3-0, 2.97).
The game was scoreless through two innings until the bottom of the third inning. Syracuse had runners on second and third base with one out when right fielder Rylan Bannon hit Pinto’s slider for a three-run home run over the wall at left field putting Syracuse up 3-0. It was Bannon’s 11th home run of the season. Pinto got back-to-back groundouts from Brett Baty and Luke Ritter to end the inning.
At the top of the fourth inning, Lehigh Valley left fielder Simon Muzziotti hit Scott’s slider for a solo home run over the wall at right field and the score was now 3-1 Syracuse. It was Muzziotti’s fifth home run of the season and 21st RBI of the year.
Moving to the top of the sixth inning, Lehigh Valley had runners on first and second base when third baseman Buddy Kennedy hit a two-run RBI double to left field scoring Jordan Luplow and Simon Muzziotti, and the game was tied 3-3. It was Kennedy’s 16th RBI of the season. Kennedy was acquired by the Philadelphia Phillies on June 7, 2024, from the Detroit Tigers for cash. Lehigh Valley did not add any more runs in the inning.
Lehigh Valley starter Ricardo Pinto pitched six innings, allowing six hits, three runs, one walk, and three strikeouts throwing 85 pitches, of which 51 were strikes. Tyler Gilbert was the new Lehigh Valley pitcher in the bottom of the seventh inning. He struck out two players throwing seven pitches, of which seven were strikes to get the three outs.
At the top of the eighth inning, Lehigh Valley had the bases loaded when second base Jim Haley grounded into a forceout at second base while Buddy Kennedy scored to take a 4-3 lead. Then, Lehigh Valley center fielder Cal Stevenson hit an RBI single to center field scoring Cody Roberts for a 5-3 lead. It was Stevenson’s 20th RBI of the year. Lehigh Valley did not add any more runs in the inning.
Yunior Marte (1.0 IP, 2 H, 1 K) pitched for Lehigh Valley in the bottom of the eighth throwing 24 pitches, of which 16 were strikes, and Max Lazer (1.0 IP, 1 H, 1 K) pitched in the bottom of the ninth inning throwing 14 pitches, of which 11 were strikes to get the final three outs of the game. The IronPigs defeated the Mets by the final score of 5-3.
Lehigh Valley finished the afternoon with 11 hits. The win went to Lehigh Valley pitcher Tyler Gilbert. It was his second win of the season while the loss went to Syracuse pitcher Mike Vasil, and Max Lazer earned his fifth save of the season.
The IronPigs and Mets play game three on Thursday 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.
