The Lehigh Valley IronPigs (60-63) continued their 12-game homestand on Tuesday night against the Syracuse Mets (68-57) from Coca-Cola Park. Lehigh Valley starter Tyler Phillips (7-4, 5.19 ERA) was on the mound against Syracuse’s Brandon Sproat (0-1, 9.26 ERA).
At the top of the third inning, Syracuse had runners on first and second base when Luisangel Acuña hit Phillips’s sinker for a three-run home run over the wall at right field for a 3-0 lead. After walking Drew Gilbert, Lehigh Valley starter Tyler Phillips struck out D.J. Stewart and Luke Ritter, and a ground out by Jackie Bradley Jr. ended the inning.
At the top of the fourth inning with one out, Syracuse second baseman Yolmer Sánchez hit Phillips’s curveball hitting the foul pole at right field for a 4-0 lead. After walking Logan Porter, Phillips got the last two outs to end the inning. Phillips (5.1 IP, 6 H, 4 R, 3 BB, 7 K) threw 90 pitches, of which 59 were strikes.
In the bottom of the fifth inning, Lehigh Valley right fielder David Dahl hit Brandon Sproat’s fastball for a solo home run clearing the wall at left field and the IronPigs trailed the Mets 4-1. It was Dahl’s 13th home run of the season and 29th RBI of the year. The home run went 329 feet with an exit velocity of 93.2 mph.
Three batters later, Lehigh Valley had runners on first and second base when designated hitter Carlos De La Cruz hit Sproat’s changeup for an RBI single to right field and the IronPigs trailed the Mets 4-2. It was De La Cruz’s 11th RBI of the season.
Two batters later, Lehigh Valley center fielder Cal Stevenson hit an RBI single to center field scoring Matt Kroon and it was now 4-3 Syracuse. It was Stevenson’s 41st RBI of the season. Then, Lehigh Valley third baseman Kody Clemens hit an RBI single to right field scoring Cal Stevenson, and the game was tied 4-4. It was Clemens’s 46th RBI of the season. Scott Kingery struck out swinging and the inning was over.
Jonah Dipoto pitched for Lehigh Valley at the top of the sixth inning. Dipoto (0.2 IP, 2 K) threw 12 pitches, of which 8 were strikes. Freddy Tarnok was the new pitcher for Lehigh Valley at the top of the seventh inning. Tarnok (1.0 IP, 1 H, 2 BB) threw 27 pitches, of which 12 were strikes to get three outs.
Andrew Bellatti was the pitcher for Lehigh Valley at the top of the eighth inning. Bellatti (1.0 IP, 2 K) threw 10 pitches, of which 7 were strikes. In the bottom of the eighth inning, Lehigh Valley had runners on first and second base with one out when left fielder Matt Kroon hit a two-run RBI single to center field scoring David Dahl and Jim Haley for a 6-4 lead. It was Kroon’s 37th RBI of the season. Lehigh Valley did not add any more runs in the inning.
Zach Haake was the pitcher for Lehigh Valley at the top of the ninth inning. Haake (1.0 IP, 1 H, 1 K) threw 10 pitches, of which 7 were strikes to get the final three outs of the game. The IronPigs defeated the Mets 6-4 for their fourth straight win.
Lehigh Valley finished the night with 9 hits. The win went to Lehigh Valley pitcher Andrew Bellatti for his fourth win of the season and Zach Haake earned his second save of the season. The loss went to Syracuse pitcher Grant Hartwig for his first loss of the season.
The IronPigs and Mets play game two on Wednesday at 6:45 pm on MiLB.TV. Purchase IronPigs tickets for the 2024 season today on StubHub and Viagogo.
