The Lehigh Valley IronPigs (48-47) started a 12-game road trip on Tuesday from Innovative Field against the Rochester Red Wings (52-43). Lehigh Valley starter Kolby Allard (2-6, 5.46 ERA), was on the mound against Rochester’s Brad Lord (2-0, 4.35 ERA).
The game was scoreless through the first three innings of the game. At the top of the fourth inning, Lehigh Valley had a runner on first base with two outs when third baseman Buddy Kennedy hit Lord’s fastball for an RBI double to left field scoring Rafael Marchan for a 1-0 lead. It was Kennedy’s 25th double of the season and 33rd RBI of the year.
In the bottom of the fourth inning, Rochester had a runner on second base with one out when designated hitter Travis Blankenhorn hit Allard’s cutter for a two-run home clearing the wall at right field putting the Red Wings up 2-1. It was Blankenhorn’s 20th home run of the season. Allard did not allow any more runs in the inning.
At the top of the fifth inning, Lehigh Valley had a runner on first base with one out when center fielder Cal Stevenson hit an RBI triple to right field scoring Carlos De La Cruz, and the game was tied 2-2. It was Stevenson’s fifth triple of the season and 37th RBI of the year. Lehigh Valley did not add any more runs in the inning.
At the top of the sixth inning with one out, Lehigh Valley third baseman Buddy Kennedy hit Joan Adon’s slider for a solo home run over the wall at left field to put the IronPigs back up 3-2. The home run went 406 feet with an exit velocity of 103.8 mph. It was Kennedy’s 10th home run of the season and 34th RBI of the year. Lehigh Valley did not add any more runs in the inning.
Lehigh Valley starter Kolby Allard (6.0 IP, 5 H, 2 R, 2 BB, 4 K) threw 85 pitches, of which 53 were strikes. Michael Rucker was the new pitcher for Lehigh Valley in the bottom of the seventh inning. Rucker (1.0 IP, 1 K) threw 12 pitches, of which 7 were strikes. Rucker threw one more inning and finished the night going two innings, allowing one hit and two strikeouts throwing 29 pitches, of which 18 were strikes.
Max Lazar was the new pitcher for Lehigh Valley in the bottom of the ninth inning. He gave up a double to Joey Meneses before getting Alex Call to line out toward right fielder Carlos De La Cruz for the first out. Next, Rochester pinch hitter Jake Alu hit an RBI single to center field scoring Meneses, and the game was tied 3-3.
Two batters later, Rochester second baseman Darren Baker hit a single to left field moving Alu up to second base with two outs. Then, Rochester center fielder Dylan Crews hit Lazar’s fastball to shortstop Scott Kingery. A throwing error by Kingery allowed Alu to score and the IronPigs lost game one to the Red Wings by the final score of 4-3.
Lehigh Valley finished the night with nine hits and committed one error. Lehigh Valley pitcher Max Lazar lost his third game of the season, while the win went to Rochester pitcher Rico Garcia.
The IronPigs and Red Wings play game two on Wednesday at 6:05 pm on MiLB.TV. Purchase IronPigs tickets for the 2024 season today on StubHub and Viagogo. Also, pick up IronPigs merchandise today at Rally House.
