The Lehigh Valley IronPigs (33-39) played game five of a six-game homestand on Saturday night against the Norfolk Tides (36-38) from Coca-Cola Park. Lehigh Valley starter Mick Abel (1-7, 6.93 ERA) was on the mound against Norfolk’s Dean Kremer (0-1, 4.91 ERA).
At the top of the first inning, Norfolk had a runner on first base when right fielder Heston Kjerstad hit Abel’s slider for a two-run home run onto the berm at center field for a 2-0 lead. Abel got back-to-back groundouts from Coby Mayo and Kyle Stowers before getting Billy Cook to fly out toward right fielder Ruben Cardenas for the final out of the inning.
In the bottom of the first inning, Lehigh Valley designated hitter Kody Clemens hit Kremer’s sinker clearing the wall at right field and the score was now 2-1 Norfolk. It was Clemens’s fourth home run of the season and 17th RBI of the year.
Two batters later with a runner on first base, Lehigh Valley third baseman Buddy Kennedy hit an RBI double to left field scoring Johan Rojas, and the game was tied 2-2. It was Kennedy’s 25th RBI of the season.
Next, Lehigh Valley second baseman Weston Wilson hit Kremer’s cutter for a two-run home run onto the berm at center field for a 4-2 lead. It was Wilson’s 12th home run of the season and 44th RBI of the year.
Four batters later with two outs and a runner on third base, Lehigh Valley catcher Aramis Garcia hit an RBI single to center field scoring Scott Kingery for a 5-2 lead. It was Garcia’s 20th RBI of the year. Nolan Hoffman replaced Kremer, who struck out Matt Kroon for the final out of the inning.
Moving ahead to the top of the fifth inning, Lehigh Valley pitcher Mick Abel walked three Norfolk players before being replaced by Taylor Lehman. With the bases loaded, Norfolk designated hitter Kyle Stowers hit Lehman’s curveball for a grand slam into Lehigh Valley’s bullpen at left-center field putting Norfolk up 6-5. Mick Abel (4.0 IP, 2 H, 5 R, 6 BB, 4 K) threw 100 pitches, of which 59 were strikes.
With two outs, Lehman gave up a single to Maverick Handley and walked both Hudson Haskin and Anthony Servideo loading the bases for Connor Norby. Lehman walked Norby forcing in a run and it was now 7-5 Norfolk. Next, Norfolk right fielder Heston Kjerstad hit a two-run RBI single to center field scoring Hudson Haskin and Anthony Servideo for a 9-5 lead.
Lehman was replaced by Jonah Dipoto. With two outs and the bases loaded, Dipoto got Kyle Stowers to fly out toward center field Johan Rojas and the inning was over. Taylor Lehman (0.2 IP, 3 H, 4 R, 3 BB, 2 K) threw 24 pitches, of which 11 were strikes and Jonah Dipoto (0.1 IP, 1 H) threw 9 pitches, of which 5 were strikes.
Blaine Knight was the new pitcher for Lehigh Valley at the top of the sixth inning. He gave up a double to Billy Cook. During Daniel Johnson’s at-bat, Knight threw a wild pitch moving Cook to third base before walking Johnson. Then, the skies opened up and it began to rain very hard forcing the game to go into a weather delay. The delay lasted 26 minutes before the game resumed.
Norfolk catcher Maverick Handley brought Billy Cook home with a sacrifice fly and the score was now 10-5. Three batters later with runners on first and second base, Norfolk second baseman Connor Norby hit Knight’s slider for a three-run home run onto the berm at left-center field for a 13-5 lead with two outs. Two batters later, Knight struck out Coby Mayo and the inning was over.
At the top of the seventh inning, Norfolk had a runner on first base when first baseman Billy Cook hit an RBI double to right field scoring Kyle Stowers. Lehigh Valley right fielder Ruben Cardenas threw a long ball to third baseman Buddy Kennedy to get Cook out at third base. Three batters later with two outs, Knight struck out Hudson Haskin and the inning was over. Knight (2.0 IP, 5 H, 5 R, 3 BB, 3 K) threw 44 pitches, of which 26 were strikes.
Yunior Marte was the new Lehigh Valley pitcher at the top of the eighth inning. Marte struck out the side throwing 13 pitches, of which 10 were strikes.
In the bottom of the eighth inning with two outs, Lehigh Valley had a runner on third baseman when first baseman Darick Hall hit an RBI single to right field scoring Johan Rojas and the score was now 14-6. It was Hall’s 27th RBI of the season.
Next, Lehigh Valley right fielder Ruben Cardenas hit Tucker Davidson’s slider for a two-run home run clearing the Tiki Bar at left-center field and the score was now 14-8. It was Cardenas’s 15th home run of the season and 40th RBI of the year. The home run went 437 feet with an exit velocity of 107.6 mph. Jim Haley struck out swinging and the inning was over.
José Godoy was the new pitcher for Lehigh Valley at the top of the ninth inning. Godoy (1.0 IP, 1 H) threw six pitches, of which six were strikes to get three outs.
Morgan McSweeney was the new pitcher for Norfolk in the bottom of the ninth inning. Aramis Garcia hit a single and McSweeney walked Matt Kroon. After that, McSweeney got the three outs and the game was over. Lehigh Valley’s four-game winning streak comes to an end losing to the Norfolk Tides by the final score of 14-8.
Lehigh Valley finished the night with 10 hits and committed one error. The loss went to Lehigh Valley pitcher Taylor Lehman and the win went to Norfolk pitcher Tucker Davidson.
The IronPigs and Tides conclude the six-game series on Sunday at 1:35 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.
