The Lehigh Valley IronPigs (41-42) visited PNC Field on Thursday night to begin a three-game road trip against the Scranton/Wilkes-Barre RailRiders (46-37). Lehigh Valley starter Mick Abel (2-7, 6.79 ERA) was on the mound against Scranton/Wilkes-Barre’s Egar Barclay (3-6, 7.46 ERA).
The game was delayed for an hour due to rain before it got underway at 7:46 pm. At the top of the first inning, Lehigh Valley had runners on the corners when right fielder Ruben Cardenas hit Barclay’s curveball for a three-run home run clearing the wall at left field for a 3-0 lead. It was Cardenas’s 19th home run of the season and 54th RBI of the year.
Two batters later with one out, Lehigh Valley designated hitter Nick Podkul hit Barclay’s changeup for a solo home run over the wall at left field extending their lead to 4-0 lead. It was Podkul’s ninth home run of the season and 28th RBI of the year. The home run went 426 feet with an exit velocity of 106.6 mph. Lehigh Valley did not add any more runs in the inning.
In the bottom of the first inning, Scranton/Wilkes-Barre had runners on the corners with two outs when Lehigh Valley starter Mick Abel threw a wild pitch scoring Jorbit Vivas and the score was now 4-1 Lehigh Valley. Abel struck out Carlos Narvaez to end the inning.
At the top of the second inning with a runner on second base and one out, Lehigh Valley third baseman Buddy Kennedy hit an RBI single to left field scoring Cody Roberts for a 5-1 lead. It was Kennedy’s 30th RBI of the year.
Two batters later, Lehigh Valley had a runner on first base with two outs when first baseman Darick Hall hit Barclay’s changeup for a two-run home run onto the berm at right field for a 7-1 lead. It was Hall’s eighth home run of the season and 35th RBI of the year. The home run went 376 feet with an exit velocity of 102.2 mph. A flyout by Nick Podkul ended the inning.
In the bottom of the fifth inning with runners on first and second base with two outs, Scranton/Wilkes-Barre Jorbit Vivas hit a two-run double to right field scoring Jose Rojas and Jeter Downs while Vivas went to third base on a catching error by Cody Roberts. The score was now 7-3 Lehigh Valley. Then, Abel threw a wild pitch scoring Vivas and the score was now 7-4 Lehigh Valley.
After Lehigh Valley starter Mick Abel walked Oswald Peraza, he was replaced by Taylor Lehman. Two batters later, a ground out by T.J. Rumfield ended the inning. Abel (4.2 IP, 4 H, 4 R, 3 BB, 6 K) threw 97 pitches, of which 57 were strikes, while Lehman (0.1 IP, 1 H) threw 8 pitches, of which 5 were strikes.
Tyler McKay was the new pitcher for Lehigh Valley in the bottom of the sixth inning. A groundout by Carlos Narvaez, a pop out from Jose Rojas, and a flyout by Oscar Gonzalez ended the inning. McKay (1.0 IP) threw six pitches, of which were four strikes to get the three outs.
In the bottom of the seventh inning, Lehigh Valley pitcher Tyler McKay gave up a double to Taylor Trammell, followed by a wild pitch moving Trammell to third base. A ground out by Jeter Downs scored Taylor Trammell and the score was now 7-5 Lehigh Valley. Two batters later, McKay got Oswald Peraza to pop out toward second baseman Jim Haley, and a ground out by Agustin Ramirez to shortstop Scott Kingery ended the inning. McKay (2.0 IP, 1 H, 1 R) threw 25 pitches, of which 15 were strikes.
Michael Rucker was the new pitcher for Lehigh Valley in the bottom of the eighth inning. Rucker (1.0 IP, 2 H) threw 10 pitches, of which 8 were strikes to get three outs.
Tyler Gilbert was the new pitcher for Lehigh Valley in the bottom of the ninth inning. He struck out Jeter Downs, followed by a flyout from Jorbit Vivas, and a ground out by Oswald Peraza for the final out of the game. Gilbert (1.0 IP, 1 K) threw 14 pitches, of which 9 were strikes.
The Lehigh Valley IronPigs defeated the Scranton/Wilkes-Barre RailRiders by the final score of 7-5. They finished the night with 12 hits and committed one error. The win went to Lehigh Valley pitcher Taylor Lehman for his fourth win of the season, while Gilbert earned his third save of the season. The loss went to Scranton/Wilkes-Barre starter Edgar Barclay.
The IronPigs and RailRiders play game three on Friday 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.
