The Lehigh Valley IronPigs (35-40) played game two of a six-game series on Wednesday night against the Durham Bulls (37-40) from Durham Bulls Athletic Park. Lehigh Valley pitcher Freddy Tarnok (0-3, 10.22 ERA) was on the mound against Durham’s Shane Baz (2-3, 4.19 ERA).
At the top of the second inning, Lehigh Valley had a runner on first base with two outs when right fielder Cal Stevenson hit an RBI double to left field scoring Ruben Cardenas for a 1-0 lead. It was Stevenson’s 13th double of the season and 26th RBI of the year. Two batters later with a runner on first base, Lehigh Valley second baseman Jim Haley struck out and the inning was over.
In the bottom of the second inning, Durham had runners on second and third base with two out when Tristan Peters hit an RBI single to center field scoring Austin Shenton, and the game was tied 1-1. A flyout by C.J. Hinojosa ended the inning. In the bottom of the third inning with one out, Durham third baseman Curtis Mead hit Tarnok’s fastball for a solo home run clearing the wall at left-center field for a 2-1 lead.
After giving up a single to Ronny Simon, Freddy Tarnok was replaced by Taylor Lehman as the new Lehigh Valley pitcher. Three batters later with two outs and runners on first and second base, Durham catcher René Pinto hit a three-run home run onto the berm at center field extending Durham’s lead to 4-1. Two batters later, Lehman struck out Jake Mangum and the inning was over.
Freddy Tarnok (2.1 IP, 5 H, 2 R, 3 K) threw 48 pitches, of which 32 were strikes, while Taylor Lehman (0.2 IP, 2 H, 2 R, 1 BB, 1 K) threw 17 pitches, of which 8 were strikes. Richardo Pinto was the new pitcher for Lehigh Valley in the bottom of the fourth inning. He threw five pitchers of which five were strikes.
At the top of the fifth inning, Lehigh Valley had a runner on second base with one out when third baseman Buddy Kennedy hit an RBI single to center field scoring Johan Rojas and the score was now 4-2 Durham. Lehigh Valley did not add any more runs in the inning.
In the bottom of the fifth inning, Durham had runners on first and second base with two outs when Logan Driscoll hit an RBI single to right field scoring Curtis Mead for a 5-2 lead. Ricardo Pinto struck out Jake Mangum and the inning was over.
In the bottom of the sixth inning with two outs, Durham center fielder Kameron Misner hit a solo home run over the wall at right-center field for a 6-2 lead. Two batters later, Pinto struck out Ronny Simon for the final out of the inning.
In the bottom of the seventh inning, Durham had a runner on second base with two outs when Jake Mangum hit an RBI double to center field scoring Austin Shenton and it was now 7-2 Durham. Two batters later, a flyout by C.J. Hinojosa ended the inning. Richardo Pinto (4.0 IP, 7 H, 3 R, 1 BB, 4 K) threw 76 pitches, of which 49 were strikes.
Andrew Bellatti was the new pitcher for Lehigh Valley in the bottom of the eighth inning. Bellatti (1.0 IP, 1 H, 1 BB) threw 14 pitches, of which 9 were strikes to get three outs.
Lehigh Valley had one more chance at the top of the ninth inning. Manuel Rodríguez was the new pitcher for Durham. Manuel Rodríguez walked Cody Roberts before striking out Jim Haley. Then, Lehigh Valley left fielder Kody Clemens hit into a game-ending 4-6-3 double play.
The IronPigs lose to the Bulls by the final score of 7-2. Lehigh Valley finished the night with nine hits. The loss went to Lehigh Valley starter Freddy Tarnok. It is his fourth loss of the season, second with the IronPigs and the win went to Durham starter Shane Baz.
The IronPigs and Bulls 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 and Rally House.
