The Lehigh Valley IronPigs (60-64) played game two of a six-game series on Wednesday night from Coca-Cola Park against the Syracuse Mets (69-57). Lehigh Valley starter Kyle Tyler (5-3, 5.25 ERA) was on the mound against Syracuse’s Blade Tidwell (0-7, 5.46 ERA).
At the top of the first inning, Syracuse had a runner on second base with two outs when Syracuse third baseman Luke Ritter hit an RBI double to center field scoring D.J. Stewart for a 1-0 lead. Tyler struck out Jackie Bradley Jr. to end the inning.
In the bottom of the first inning, Lehigh Valley had the bases loaded when designated hitter David Dahl grounded into a forceout at second base scoring Cal Stevenson, and the game was tied 1-1. It was Dahl’s 30th RBI of the season.
Then, Lehigh Valley second baseman Jim Haley hit Tidwell’s fastball for an RBI single to right field scoring Kody Clemens for a 2-1 lead. It was Haley’s 33rd RBI of the season. Lehigh Valley did not add any more runs in the inning.
Moving ahead to the top of the fifth inning, rain began to heavily come down and the game went to a rain delay at 7:58 pm. Lehigh Valley starter Kyle Tyler (4.0 IP, 5 H, 1 R, 5 K) threw 53 pitches, of which 41 were strikes. The game was delayed for an hour before it resumed. Nick Nelson was the new pitcher for the Lehigh Valley. Nelson (2.0 IP, 1 BB) threw 19 pitches, of which 12 were strikes.
Michael Rucker was the new pitcher for Lehigh Valley at the top of the seventh inning. Syracuse had runners on first and second base with one out when first baseman J.T. Schwartz hit an RBI single to right field scoring Carlos Cortes, and the game was tied 2-2. Next, Luisangel Acuña hit an RBI single to center field scoring Yolmer Sánchez for a 3-2 lead. A forceout by Drew Gilbert and a flyout by D.J. Stewart ended the inning. Rucker (1.0 IP, 1.0 IP, 3 H, 2 R, 1 BB) threw 28 pitches, of which 16 were strikes.
Griff McGarry was the new pitcher for Lehigh Valley at the top of the eighth inning. McGarry gave up a double to Luke Ritter and walked Jackie Bradley Jr. Next, he struck out Carlos Cortes and Austin Allen before walking Yolmer Sánchez to load the bases.
McGarry was replaced by Dylan Covey. Covey got J.T. Schwartz to line out toward second baseman Kody Clemens to end the inning. McGarry (0.2 IP, 1 H, 2 BB, 2 K) threw 23 pitches, of which 12 were strikes and Covey (1.1 IP, 1 H, 2 K) threw 22 pitches, of which 14 were strikes.
Lehigh Valley had one last shot to tie or win the game in the bottom of the ninth inning. Lehigh Valley center fielder Cal Stevenson struck out swinging, second baseman Kody Clemens grounded toward second baseman Yolmer Sánchez for the second out, and first baseman Darick Hall grounded out toward first baseman J.T. Schwartz for the final out of the game.
The IronPigs lost to the Mets 3-2 snapping a four-game winning streak. They finished the night with 6 hits. The loss went to Lehigh Valley pitcher Michael Rucker for his second loss of the season. The win went to Syracuse pitcher Max Kranick and Eric Orze earned his third save of the season.
The IronPigs and Mets play game three on Thursday at 6:45 pm on MiLB.TV. Purchase IronPigs tickets for the 2024 season today on StubHub and Viagogo.
