The Lehigh Valley IronPigs (38-40) concluded the six-game road trip on Sunday evening against the Durham Bulls (37-43) from Durham Bulls Athletic Park. Lehigh Valley starter Kolby Allard (2-5, 6.37 ERA) was on the mound against Durham’s Mason Montgomery (0-5, 6.31 ERA).
At the top of the second inning, Lehigh Valley had runners on first and second base with two outs when left fielder Matt Kroon hit an RBI single to left field scoring Cal Stevenson for a 1-0 lead. It was Kroon’s 17th RBI of the season. A ground out by Lehigh Valley designated hitter José Godoy ended the inning.
In the bottom of the second inning with one out, Durham first baseman Bob Seymour hit Allard’s curveball for a solo home run clearing the wall at right field, and the game was tied 1-1. Three batters later with two outs, Durham shortstop C.J. Hinojosa flies out toward right fielder Ruben Cardenas for the final out of the inning.
At the top of the third inning, Lehigh Valley had a runner on second base with two outs when first baseman Nick Podkul hit an RBI single to left field scoring Weston Wilson for a 2-1 lead. It was Podkul’s 25th RBI of the season. A strikeout by Lehigh Valley center fielder Cal Stevenson ended the inning.
In the bottom of the fourth inning, Durham had runners on first and second base with one out when left fielder Heriberto Hernandez grounded toward third baseman Buddy Kennedy. Kennedy threw the ball to second baseman Scott Kingery to get the out at second base but he overthrew first baseman Nick Podkul and René Pinto scored tying the game 2-2. Next, Durham right fielder Tristan Peters hit an RBI single to right fielder Ruben Cardenas scoring Heriberto Hernandez for a 3-2 lead. A ground out by Kameron Misner ended the inning. Kolby Allard (4.0 IP, 6 H, 3 R, 1 BB, 5 K) threw 64 pitches, of which 46 were strikes.
At the top of the fifth inning, Lehigh Valley shortstop Weston Wilson hit Mason Montgomery’s fastball for a solo home run over the wall at left field, and the game was tied 3-3. It was Wilson’s 15th home run of the season and 49th RBI of the year. Lehigh Valley did not add any more runs in the inning.
Michael Rucker was the new pitcher for Lehigh Valley in the bottom of the fifth inning, Rucker struck out two players throwing 12 pitches, of which 10 were strikes to get the three outs. Rucker (2.0 IP, 1 H, 4 K) threw 34 pitches, of which 26 were strikes.
At the top of the seventh inning, Lehigh Valley had the bases loaded with one out when right fielder Ruben Cardenas brought Matt Kroon home with a sacrifice fly to left field for a 4-3 lead. Lehigh Valley first baseman Nick Podkul struck out swinging and the inning was over.
Tyler Gilbert was the new pitcher for Lehigh Valley in the bottom of the seventh inning. Gilbert (1.0 IP, 1 BB, 1 K) threw 15 pitches, of which 9 were strikes to get three outs. Gilbert (2.0 IP, 1 BB, 2 K) threw 25 pitches, of which 16 were strikes.
At the top of the ninth inning, Lehigh Valley had a runner on first base with one out when shortstop Weston Wilson hit Erasmo Ramírez’s sinker for a two-run home run clearing the wall at left field for a 6-3 lead It was Wilson’s 16th home run of the season and 51st RBI of the year. Lehigh Valley did not add any more runs in the inning.
Max Lazar was the new pitcher for Lehigh Valley in the bottom of the ninth inning. Lazar struck out Tristan Peters, followed by a ground out from Ronny Simon for the second out, and struck out Kameron Misner to end the game. Lazar (1.0 IP, 2 K) threw 14 pitches, of which 9 were strikes.
The IronPigs defeated the Bulls 6-3. They win the series 4-2. Lehigh Valley finished the day with 11 hits and committed two errors. The win went to Lehigh Valley pitcher Michael Rucker for his first win of the season, and Max Lazar earned his eighth save of the season. The loss went to Durham pitcher Justin Sterner.
The IronPigs return to Coca-Cola Park for a three-game series against the Scranton/Wilkes-Barre RailRiders starting on Tuesday at 7:05 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.
