The Lehigh Valley IronPigs (55-54) played a doubleheader on Saturday from Coca-Cola Park against the Scranton/Wilkes-Barre RailRiders (63-48). Lehigh Valley pitcher Nick Nelson (2-4, 7.43 ERA) was on the mound for game one against Scranton/Wilkes-Barre’s Yoendrys Gomez (2-4, 4.03 ERA).
In the bottom of the first inning with two outs, Lehigh Valley catcher Rafael Marchan hit Gomez’s fastball for a solo home run clearing the wall at right field for a 1-0 lead. The home went 390 feet with an exit velocity of 94.9 mph. It was Marchan’s second home run of the season and eighth RBI of the year. Lehigh Valley did not add any more runs in the inning.
At the top of the fifth inning with one out, Scranton/Wilkes-Barre catcher J.C. hit Nelson’s fastball for a two-run home run over the wall at right field giving the RailRiders a 2-1 lead. After walking two batters in a row, Nelson was replaced by Tyler McKay.
Two batters later, Scranton/Wilkes-Barre center fielder Jasson Domínguez hit a two-run RBI double to center field scoring Josh VanMeter and Jorbit Vivas extending the RailRiders lead 4-1. Two batters later, a line out by T.J. Rumfield to right fielder Carlos De La Cruz ended the inning.
Nick Nelson (4.1 IP, 3 H, 4 R, 2 BB, 3 K) threw 65 pitches, of which 39 were strikes, while McKay (0.2 IP, 1 H, 1 BB) threw 11 pitches, of which 5 were strikes.
Michael Mercado was the new pitcher for Lehigh Valley at the top of the sixth inning. Mercado walked three straight batters before Josh VanMeter hit an RBI single to left field scoring Taylor Trammell for a 5-1 lead. Next, a sacrifice fly by Jorbit Vivas scored Jahmai Jones making it 6-1.
Blaine Knight replaced Mercado. With two outs, Knight got Oswald Peraza to ground out toward shortstop Scott Kingery to end the inning. Mercado (0.1 IP, 1 H, 2 R, 4 BB) threw 29 pitches, of which 12 were strikes, while Knight (0.2 IP, 1 K) threw 11 pitches, of which 6 were strikes.
In the bottom of the sixth inning, Lehigh Valley runners on first and second base with one out when third baseman Rodolfo Castro hit a two-run RBI single to center field. A throwing error by Jasson Domínguez scored Scott Kingery and Rafael Marchan and the IronPigs trailed the RailRiders 6-3. Lehigh Valley did not add any more runs in the inning.
Lehigh Valley pitcher Blaine Knight walked the first two batters before being replaced by Taylor Lehman. Lehman got Jahmai Jones to ground into a 5-4-3 double play before J.C. Escarra hit an RBI single to shortstop Scott Kingery scoring T.J. Rumfield for a 7-3 lead. Next, Cam Eden hit an RBI triple to center field scoring J.C. Escarra making it 8-3.
Scranton/Wilkes-Barre second baseman Jorbit Vivas hit an RBI double to left field scoring Cam Eden for a 9-3 lead. A ground out by Caleb Durbin ended the inning. Blaine Knight (0.2 IP, 1 R, 2 BB, 1 K) threw 19 pitches, of which 6 were strikes, while Lehman (1.0 IP, 3 H, 2 R) threw 20 pitches, of which 11 were strikes.
Nick Burdi was the new pitcher for Scranton/Wilkes-Barre in the bottom of the seventh inning. Jim Haley worked a four-pitch walk but the IronPigs could not add any runs and they lost game one to the RailRiders 9-3.
Lehigh Valley finished game one with five hits and committed one error. The loss went to Lehigh Valley pitcher Nick Nelson for his fifth loss of the season while Victor González won his fourth game for Scranton/Wilkes-Barre.
In game two, Lehigh Valley starter David Buchanan (8-3, 4.84 ERA) was on the mound against Scranton/Wilkes-Barre’s Edgar Barclay (5-8, 6.22 ERA).
In the bottom of the third inning, Lehigh Valley had runners on first and second base with one out when center fielder Ryan McKenna hit a two-run double to right field scoring Aramis Garcia and Nick Podkul for a 2-0 lead. It was McKenna’s 15th RBI of the season. Lehigh Valley did not add any more runs in the inning.
At the top of the fourth inning, Scranton/Wilkes-Barre had a runner on second base when T.J. Rumfield hit an RBI double to right field scoring Oswaldo Peraza and the RailRiders trailed the IronPigs 2-1. Then, Taylor Trammell hit Buchanan’s curveball for a two-run home run clearing the wall at right field for a 3-2 lead. A line out by Cam Eden ended the inning.
In the bottom of the fourth inning, Lehigh Valley left fielder Matt Kroon hit Edgar Barclay’s fastball for a solo home run over the wall at right-center field and the game was tied 3-3. The home run went 410 feet with an exit velocity of 106.1 mph. It was Kroon’s eighth home run of the season and 31st RBI of the year.
Four batters later, Lehigh Valley had runners on first and second base with two outs when first baseman Nick Podkul hit a two-run RBI double to center field scoring Jim Haley and Aramis Garcia for a 5-3 lead. It was Podkul’s 33rd RBI of the year. A ground out by Ryan McKenna ended the inning.
At the top of the fifth inning, Scranton/Wilkes had a runner on third base with one out when Jasson Domínguez grounded out toward second baseman Jim Haley scoring Jorbit Vivas and the RailRiders trailed the IronPigs 5-4. David Buchanan struck out Oswald Peraza to end the inning.
In the bottom of the fifth inning, Lehigh Valley had a runner on third base with one out when left fielder Matt Kroon scored Kody Clemens with a sacrifice fly. It was now 6-4 Lehigh Valley. Lehigh Valley right fielder Carlos De La Cruz struck out and the inning was over.
Lehigh Valley pitcher David Buchanan (5.0 IP, 6 H, 4 R, 1 BB, 2 K) threw 76 pitches, of which 50 were strikes. Zach Haake was the new pitcher for Lehigh Valley at the top of the sixth inning. Haake gave up one hit throwing 16 pitches, of which 11 were strikes to get three outs.
Haake returned to close out the game at the top of the seventh inning. After giving up a double to Cam Eden, Haake got three straight ground outs from Jorbit Vivas, Caleb Durbin, and Jasson Domínguez for the final out of the game.
Haake (2.0 IP, 2 H, 2 K) threw 27 pitches, of which 18 were strikes. The IronPigs defeated the RailRiders in game two 6-4 to snap a four-game losing streak.
Lehigh Valley finished game two with six hits and committed one error. The win went to Lehigh Valley starter David Buchannan for his ninth win of the season and Zach Haake earned his first save of the season, while the loss went to Scranton/Wilkes-Barre pitcher Edgar Barclay.
The IronPigs and RailRiders conclude the five-game series on Sunday at 1:35 pm on MiLB.TV. Purchase IronPigs tickets for the 2024 season today on StubHub and Viagogo.
