The Lehigh Valley IronPigs (50-47) and the Rochester Red Wings (52-45) played game three of a six-game series on Thursday morning from Innovative Field. Lehigh Valley starter David Parkinson (2-4, 5.52 ERA) was on the mound against Rochester’s Jackson Rutledge (4-6, 7.32 ERA).
At the top of the first inning with one out, Lehigh Valley third baseman Buddy Kennedy hit Rutledge’s fastball for a solo home run clearing the wall at left field for a 1-0 lead. The home run went 377 feet with an exit velocity of 105.7 mph. It was Kennedy’s 11th home run of the season and 37th RBI of the year. Lehigh Valley did not add any more runs in the inning.
In the bottom of the second inning with two outs, Rochester left fielder Stone Garrett hit Parkinson’s fastball for a solo home run clearing the wall at left-center field and the game was tied 1-1. A ground out by Brady Lindsly ended the inning.
At the top of the fourth inning, Lehigh Valley third baseman Rodolfo Castro hit Rutledge’s cutter for a solo home run clearing the wall at right field for a 2-1 lead. The home run went 393 feet with an exit velocity of 98.6 mph. It was Castro’s second home run of the season and fourth RBI of the year. Lehigh Valley did not add 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 left fielder Kody Clemens hit an RBI triple to right field scoring Cal Stevenson for a 3-1 lead. It was Clemens’s 28th RBI of the year.
Next, Lehigh Valley first baseman Darick Hall hit an RBI single to center field scoring Kody Clemens making it 4-1. It was Hall’s 47th RBI of the season. The IronPigs did not add any more runs in the inning.
In the bottom of the sixth inning, Rochester had runners on first and second base with one out when first baseman Joey Meneses hit an RBI double to center field scoring Brady House and the Red Wings trailed the IronPigs 4-2.
Lehigh Valley starter David Parkinson was replaced by Tyler McKay. Two batters later, Rochester shortstop Jack Dunn hit an RBI single to center field scoring Joey Meneses and the score was now 4-3 Lehigh Valley with two outs. A line out by Brady Lindsly ended the inning. David Parkinson (5.1 IP, 5 H, 3 R, 1 BB) threw 80 pitches, of which 46 were strikes, while McKay (0.2 IP, 1 H) threw 14 pitches, of which 8 were strikes.
Taylor Lehman was the new pitcher for Lehigh Valley in the bottom of the seventh inning. Lehman loaded the bases for third baseman Brady House. House brought Erick Mejia home with a sacrifice fly to center field and the game was tied 4-4. After walking Travis Blankenhorn, Lehman was replaced by Andrew Bellatti. Bellatti got the final two outs to end the inning.
Lehman (0.1 IP, 1 H, 1 R, 3 BB) threw 19 pitches, of which 6 were strikes, while Bellatti (1.2 IP, 1 H, 2 K) threw 19 pitches, of which 14 were strikes.
At the top of the eighth inning, Lehigh Valley had a runner on second base with one out when shortstop Scott Kingery hit Orlando Ribalta’s sinker for a two-run home run over the wall at center field putting the IronPigs back up 6-4. The home run went 415 feet with an exit velocity of 102.2 mph. It was Kingery’s 18th home run of the season and 47th RBI of the year.
Two batters later, Lehigh Valley had a runner on second base when catcher Cody Roberts hit an RBI single to center field scoring Jim Haley for a 7-4 lead. It was Roberts’s 13th RBI of the season.
Five batters later, Lehigh Valley had the bases loaded with two outs when first baseman Darick Hall hit a three-run double to left field scoring Cody Roberts, Cal Stevenson, and Kody Clemens making it 10-4. It was Hall’s 50th RBI of the year. Rodolfo Castro struck out swinging and the inning was over.
At the top of the ninth inning with one out, Lehigh Valley shortstop Scott Kingery hit Ty Tice’s fastball for a solo home run clearing the wall at right field for an 11-4 lead. It was Kingery’s 19th home run of the season and 48th RBI of the year. The home run went 378 feet with an exit velocity of 99.1 mph. Lehigh Valley did not add any more runs in the inning.
Jonah Dipoto was the new pitcher for Lehigh Valley in the bottom of the ninth inning. Dipoto (1.0 IP, 2 H, 1 K) threw 15 pitches, of which 10 were strikes to get the final three outs of the game. The IronPigs defeated the Red Wings 11-4. They are now 7-3 in their last ten games.
Lehigh Valley finished the afternoon with 14 hits and committed one error. The win went to Lehigh Valley pitcher Andrew Bellatti for his third win of the season, while the loss went to Rochester pitcher Orlando Ribalta.
The IronPigs and Red Wings play game four on Friday at 6:45 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.
