The Lehigh Valley IronPigs (28-37) played game four of a six-game road trip on Friday night against the Syracuse Mets (41-25) from NBT Bank Stadium. Lehigh Valley starter Freddy Tarnok (0-2, 11.88 ERA) was on the mound against Syracuse’s José Buttó (2-2, 3.86 ERA). Tarnok was claimed off waivers by the Philadelphia Phillies from the Oakland Athletics on June 1, 2024.
In the bottom of the first inning, Syracuse had a runner on third base with one out when third baseman Brett Baty brought home Luisangel Acuña with a sacrifice fly to center fielder Cal Stevenson for a 1-0 lead. With two outs, Syracuse left fielder Luke Ritter hit Tarnok’s fastball for a solo home run over the wall at left field extending their lead to 2-0. It was Ritter’s 13th home run of the season. A ground out by right fielder Trayce Thompson ended the inning.
In the bottom of the second inning with one out, Syracuse center fielder Rhylan Thomas hit Tarnok’s fastball for a solo home run hitting the Salt City Deck roof at right field and the score was now 3-0 Syracuse. It was Thomas’s first Triple-A home run. Tarnok struck out Yolmer Sánchez and Joe Hudson to end the inning. Tarnok (2.0 IP, 3 H, 3 R, 3 K) threw 33 pitches, of which 20 were strikes.
David Parkinson was the new Lehigh Valley pitcher in the bottom of the third inning. He struck out Luisangel Acuña and Rylan Bannon before giving up a double to Brett Baty. Then, Parkinson struck out Luke Ritter to end the inning. Parkinson threw 16 pitches, of which 11 were strikes.
At the top of the fourth inning, Lehigh Valley had runners on first and second base with two outs when left fielder Matt Kroon hit an RBI single to center field scoring Buddy Kennedy and the score was now 3-1 Syracuse. It was Kroon’s 16th RBI of the season. Two batters later, a ground out by third baseman Nick Podkul ended the inning.
In the bottom of the fourth inning, Syracuse had a runner on second base with two outs when second baseman Yolmer Sánchez hit an RBI double to left field scoring Rhylan Thomas for a 4-1 lead. A flyout by catcher Joe Hudson ended the inning.
Moving to the bottom of the fifth inning, Syracuse had runners on first and second base with one out when Syracuse left fielder Luke Ritter hit Parkinson’s changeup for a three-run home run at the Salt City Deck in right field and the score was now 7-1 Syracuse. Parkinson got back-to-back groundouts from Trayce Thompson and Mike Brosseau ending the inning.
Parkinson (4.0 IP, 6 H, 4 R, 1 BB, 5 K) finished the night throwing 69 pitches, of which 44 were strikes. Andrew Bellatti was the new Lehigh Valley pitcher in the bottom of the seventh inning. Bellatti (1.0 IP, 1 H, 1 K) threw 21 pitches, of which 10 were strikes to get three outs.
At the top of the eighth inning, Lehigh Valley had a runner on first base with one out when catcher Aramis Garcia hit Max Kranick’s slider for a two-run home run over the wall at left field and the score was now 7-3 Syracuse. It was Garcia’s fifth home run of the season and 18th RBI of the year. Lehigh Valley did not add any more runs in the inning.
Zac Houston was the new Lehigh Valley pitcher in the bottom of the eighth inning. Houston (1.0 IP, 1 H, 1 K) threw 18 pitches, of which 10 were strikes to get three outs. Max Kranick pitched for Syracuse at the top of the ninth inning. He struck out Nick Podkul, a lineout by Cal Stevenson, and struck out Ruben Cardenas ending the game.
The IronPigs lost to the Mets by the final score of 7-3. They are now 1-3 against Syracuse in this series. Lehigh Valley finished the night with seven hits. The loss went to Lehigh Valley starter Freddy Tarnok. It was his first loss as an IronPigs and third for the season and the win went to Syracuse starter José Buttó.
The IronPigs and Mets play game five on Saturday 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.
