The Lehigh Valley IronPigs (57-63) played game four of a six-game series against the Rochester Red Wings (68-54) on Friday night from Coca-Cola Park. Lehigh Valley starter Seth Johnson (0-0, 0.00 ERA) was on the mound against Jackson Rutledge (4-7, 6.87 ERA).
In the bottom of the first inning, Lehigh Valley had a runner on first base when third baseman Buddy Kennedy hit an RBI triple to right field scoring Kody Clemens for a 1-0 lead. It was Kennedy’s 42nd RBI of the season.
Three batters later with two outs, right fielder David Dahl hit an RBI single to right field scoring Kennedy for a 2-0 lead. It was Dahl’s 28th RBI of the year. Lehigh Valley did not add any more runs in the inning.
In the bottom of the second inning, Lehigh Valley had a runner on first base with two outs when second baseman Kody Clemens hit an RBI double off the top wall at right field scoring Cody Roberts for a 3-0 lead. It was Clemens’s 41st RBI of the season.
Two batters later, Lehigh Valley had runners on first and second base when first baseman Darick Hall hit Rutledge’s fastball for a three-run home run off a billboard sign at right field extending Lehigh Valley’s lead 6-0. The home run went 445 feet with an exit velocity of 108.9 mph. It was Hall’s 13th home run of the season and 62nd RBI of the season. A ground out by catcher Rafael Marchan ended the inning.
At the top of the third inning with one out, Rochester left fielder Travis Blankenhorn hit Johnson’s fastball for a solo home run over the wall at right field and the Red Wings trailed the IronPigs 6-1. Johnson gave up a base hit to Drew Millas before getting the last two outs of the inning.
Seth Johnson (5.0 IP, 3 H, 1 R, 2 BB, 4 K) threw 98 pitches, of which 58 were strikes. Griff McGarry was the new pitcher for Lehigh Valley at the top of the sixth inning. McGarry (1.0 IP, 2 H, 1 BB, 2 K) threw 24 pitches, of which 13 were strikes to get three outs.
Dylan Covey was the new pitcher for Lehigh Valley at the top of the seventh inning. Covey (1.0 IP, 1 BB, 2 K) threw 22 pitches, of which 14 were strikes to get three outs. Freddy Tarnok was the new pitcher for Lehigh Valley at the top of the eighth inning.
Tarnok loaded the bases with two outs when he threw a wild pitch scoring Carter Kieboom and the Red Wings trailed the IronPigs 6-2. A ground out by Dylan Crew to second baseman Kody Clemens ended the inning. Tarnok (1.0 IP, 1 H, 1 R, 1 BB) threw 20 pitches, of which 11 were strikes.
Tarnok returned to pitch at the top of the ninth inning. He got Travis Blankenhorn to ground out to second baseman Kody Clemens and struck out Drew Millas before hitting Brady House. Then, Carter Kieboom grounded toward shortstop Jim Haley for the final out of the game. The IronPigs ended its six-game losing streak by defeating the Red Wings 6-2.
Lehigh Valley finished the night with 7 hits and committed one error. The win went to Lehigh Valley starter Seth Johnson for his first win of the season, and the loss went to Rochester starter Jackson Rutledge.
The IronPigs and Red Wings play game five on Saturday at 6:35 pm on MiLB.TV. Purchase IronPigs tickets for the 2024 season today on StubHub and Viagogo.
