The Lehigh Valley IronPigs (35-39) started the second half season on Tuesday night for a six-game series against the Durham Bulls (36-40) from Durham Bulls Athletic Park. Lehigh Valley starter Kolby Allard (1-5, 7.08 ERA) was on the mound against Durham’s Tyler Alexander (0-2, 4.86 ERA).
At the top of the first inning with one out, Lehigh Valley third baseman Buddy Kennedy hit Alexander’s slider for a solo home run clearing the wall at left field for a 1-0 lead. It was Kennedy’s seventh home run of the season and 26th RBI of the year. The home run went 391 feet with an exit velocity of 103.6 mph.
Next, Lehigh Valley second baseman Kody Clemens singled to right field but left fielder Weston Wilson grounded into a 6-4-3 inning-ending double play.
Moving to the top of the sixth inning, Lehigh Valley Kody Clemens hit Alexander’s sinker for a solo home run over the wall at center field extending the IronPigs lead to 2-0. It was Clemens’s fifth home run of the season and 18th RBI of the year. The home run went 409 feet with an exit velocity of 103.3 mph.
After Lehigh Valley left fielder Weston Wilson hit a single to right field. Lehigh Valley right field Ruben Cardenas popped out to first base, first baseman Jim Haley struck out swinging, and Scott Kingery grounded out toward shortstop C.J. Hinojosa, who threw the ball to first baseman Austin Shenton, and the inning was over.
At the top of the seventh inning with one out and a runner on second base, Lehigh Valley center field Johan Rojas hit an RBI single to center field scoring Aramis Garcia for a 3-0 lead. It was Rojas’s third RBI of the season.
Lehigh Valley third baseman Buddy Kennedy was called out on strikes, and second baseman Kody Clemens grounded out toward second baseman Ronny Simmons, who threw the ball to first baseman Austin Shenton for the final out of the inning.
In the bottom of the seventh inning, Durham had runners on second and third base when shortstop C.J. Hinojosa hit a two-run double to right field scoring Logan Driscoll and Jake Mangum and the score was now 3-2 Lehigh Valley. That was it for Kolby Allard, who was replaced by Tyler Gilbert.
Gilbert got Durham center fielder Kameron Misner to line out toward second baseman Kody Clemens for the final out of the inning. Kolby Allard (6.2 IP, 7 H, 2 R, 8 K) threw 85 pitches, of which 63 were strikes while Tyler Gilbert (0.1 IP) threw two pitches, of which 1 was a strike.
At the top of the eighth inning, Lehigh Valley had a runner on first base when right fielder Ruben Cardenas hit Enmanuel Mejia’s fastball for a two-run home run clearing the wall at right field for restoring a three-run lead 5-2. It was Cardenas’s 17th home run of the season and 43rd RBI of the year. The home run went 368 feet with an exit velocity of 102.1 mph.
Three batters later, Lehigh Valley had a runner on first base and one out, Lehigh Valley catcher Aramis Garcia hit Mejia’s slider for a two-run home run clearing the wall at left field and extending Lehigh Valley’s lead to 7-2. It was Garcia’s seventh home run of the season and 22nd RBI of the year.
After Enmanuel Mejia hit Nick Podkul, he was ejected from the game and was replaced by Erasmo Ramirez. Three batters later, Lehigh Valley had the bases loaded with one out when second baseman Kody Clemens hit a two-run RBI single to right field scoring Nick Podkul and Johan Rojas for a 9-2 lead. It was Clemens’s 20th RBI of the season.
Weston Wilson struck out swinging and Ruben Cardenas flies out toward right fielder Jake Mangum for the final out of the inning. Michael Rucker was the new pitcher for Lehigh Valley in the bottom of the eighth inning. Rucker (1.0 IP, 1 H, 2 K) threw 17 pitches, of which 12 were strikes to get three outs.
Nick Nelson was the new pitcher for Lehigh Valley in the bottom of the ninth inning. Nelson walked Logan Driscoll and gave up a single to Jake Mangum. Next, he got Heriberto Hernandez to pop out toward second baseman Kody Clemens for the first out, followed by striking out C.J. Hinojosa for the second out. Finally, he struck out Kameron Misner and the game was over.
The Lehigh Valley IronPigs defeated the Durham Bulls 9-2. They are now 7-3 in their last ten games. The IronPigs finished the night with 12 hits. The win went to Lehigh Valley starter Kolby Allard. It was his second win of the season and the loss went to Durham starter Tyler Alexander for his third loss of the season.
The IronPigs and Bulls play game two on Wednesday 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.
