The Lehigh Valley IronPigs (28-36) and the Syracuse Mets (40-25) played game three of a six-game series on Thursday night at NBT Bank Stadium. Lehigh Valley starter Kolby Allard (0-4, 8.51 ERA) was on the mound against Syracuse’s Dom Hamel (1-3, 7.29 ERA).
At the top of the first inning, Lehigh Valley had runners on the corners with one out when third baseman Buddy Kennedy brought Cal Stevenson home with a sacrifice fly to left field for a 1-0 lead. It was Kennedy’s 17th RBI of the season. With two outs, Lehigh Valley left fielder Simon Muzziotti flies out toward center fielder Luisangel Acuña for the final out of the inning.
Moving to the top of the fourth inning, Lehigh Valley third baseman Buddy Kennedy and left fielder Simon Muzziotti both hit singles with nobody out. With runners on the corners, Lehigh Valley catcher Aramis Garcia grounded into a forceout at second base scoring Buddy Kennedy for a 2-0 lead. It was Garcia’s 16th RBI of the season. Lehigh Valley did not add any more runs in the inning.
In the bottom of the fifth inning with one out, Syracuse right fielder Ben Gamel hit Allard’s cutter for a solo home run over the wall at right field and the score was now 2-1 Lehigh Valley. It was Gambel’s seventh home run of the season.
Then, Allard walked two guys, and a fielding error by third baseman Buddy Kennedy loaded the bases for second baseman Brett Baty. Baty hit Allard’s cutter for a two-run single to center field scoring Hayden Senger and Luisangel Acuña to take a 3-2 lead. A pop-out by Luke Ritter ended the inning. Kolby Allard (5.0 IP, 4 H, 3 R, 2 BB, 5 K) threw 80 pitches, of which 54 were strikes.
Nick Nelson was the new Lehigh Valley pitcher in the bottom of the sixth inning. With runners on first and second base, Syracuse right fielder Ben Gambel hit an RBI double to right field scoring Trayce Thompson for a 4-2 lead.
Three batters later with two outs, Syracuse center fielder Luisangel Acuña hit a two-run RBI single to center field scoring Mike Brosseau and Ben Gambel extending the Mets lead to 6-2. Nelson struck out Rylan Bannon to end the inning. Nelson (1.0 IP, 4 H, 3 R, 1 K) threw 26 pitches, of which 19 were strikes.
Blaine Knight was the new Lehigh Valley pitcher in the bottom of the seventh inning. With one out and a runner on second base, Syracuse left fielder Trayce Thompson hit an RBI single to left field scoring Brett Baty for a 7-2 lead. A pop-out by Mike Brosseau and Knight striking out Ben Gambel ended the inning. Knight (1.0 IP, 2 H, 1 R, 1 K) threw 13 pitches, of which nine were strikes.
Yunior Marte was the Lehigh Valley pitcher in the bottom of the eighth inning. With runners on first and second base, Syracuse center fielder Luisangel Acuña hit a two-run RBI single scoring Pablo Reyes for an 8-2 lead. Next, Syracuse shortstop Rylan Bannon hit an RBI single to left field scoring Hayden Senger for a 9-2 lead.
Then, Syracuse second baseman Brett Baty hit an RBI double to center field scoring Luisangel Acuña and the score was now 10-2. Syracuse first baseman Luke Ritter followed up with an RBI single to right field scoring Rylan Bannon for a 11-2 lead. Lehigh Valley pitcher Yunior Marte got Trayce Thompson to ground into a 4-6-3 double play but scored Brett Baty for a 12-2 lead.
With two outs, Marte walked Mike Brosseau before Lehigh Valley replaced Marte with Taylor Lehman. Three batters later, Syracuse catcher Hayden Senger hit an RBI single to center field scoring Mike Brosseau for a 13-2 lead. Then, Lehman walked Luisangel Acuña with the bases loaded and it was now 14-2. A flyout by Rylan Bannon finally ended the inning. Yunior Marte (0.2 IP, 5 H, 6 R, 1 BB) threw 25 pitches, of which 17 were strikes while Taylor Lehman (0.1 IP, 2 H, 1 R, 2 BB) threw 18 pitches, of which seven were strikes.
Ty Adcock was the Syracuse pitcher at the top of the ninth inning. Lehigh Valley had runners on the corners with nobody out when center fielder Cal Stevenson brought Scott Kingery home with a sacrifice fly and the score was now 14-3. Two batters later with two outs, Lehigh Valley first baseman Darick Hall hit an RBI single to right field scoring Trevor Schwecke and the score was now 14-4. Two batters later, Lehigh Valley pinch-hitter Jim Haley struck out swinging and the game was over. The IronPigs lose to the Mets by the final score of 14-4.
Lehigh Valley finished the night with 11 hits and committed three errors. The loss went to Lehigh Valley pitcher Kolby Allard. It was his fifth loss of the season and remains winless in 2024 while the win went to Syracuse pitcher Dom Hamel.
The IronPigs and Mets play game four on Friday 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.
