The Lehigh Valley IronPigs (64-70) started their final road series of the season on Tuesday night against the Scranton/Wilkes-Barre RailRiders (79-58) from PNC Field. Lehigh Valley starter Kyle Tyler (5-4, 4.24 ERA) was on the mound against Scranton/Wilkes-Barre’s Josh Maciejewski (1-3, 6.02 ERA).
At the top of the third inning, Lehigh Valley had Scott Kingery on second base with two outs when catcher Rafael Marchan hit an RBI single to center field scoring Kingery for a 1-0 lead. It was Marchan’s 12th RBI of the season. A ground out by first baseman Darick Hall ended the inning.
In the bottom of the fifth inning, Scranton/Wilkes-Barre had a runner on second base with one out when Oscar Gonzalez hit an RBI single to center field scoring Carlos Narvaez, and the game was tied 1-1. Then, Jahmai Jones grounded into an inning-ending 6-4-3 double play.
At the top of the sixth inning, Lehigh Valley had runners on first and second base with two outs when designated hitter David Dahl hit an RBI single to right field scoring Darick Hall for a 2-1 lead. It was Dahl’s 35th RBI of the season. A ground out by left fielder Matt Kroon ended the inning.
In the bottom of the sixth inning, Lehigh Valley pitcher Kyle Tyler walked two players with one out before he was replaced by Tyler McKay. Next, Oswald Peraza hit into a fielder’s choice to shortstop Scott Kingery scoring Jorbit Vivas and Ben Rice after Kinger committed a throwing error and the RailRiders took a 3-2 lead. A ground out by Taylor Trammell ended the inning.
Kyle Tyler (5.1 IP, 3 H, 3 R, 2 ER, 4 BB, 4 K) threw 86 pitches, of which 48 were strikes, while McKay (0.2 IP) threw 14 pitches, of which 9 were strikes.
At the top of the seventh inning, Scranton/Wilkes-Barre pitcher Alex Mauricio walked Rafael Marchan and Darick Hall with two outs before he was replaced by Victor González. Then, Lehigh Valley left fielder Ryan McKenna hit González’s sinker for a three-run home run clearing the wall at left-center field for a 5-3 lead.
It was McKenna’s fifth home run of the season and 16th RBI of the year. The home run went 421 feet with an exit velocity of 102.9 mph. Lehigh Valley right fielder Carlos De La Cruz struck out swinging and the inning was over.
Freddy Tarnok was the new pitcher for Lehigh Valley in the bottom of the seventh inning. Tarnok (1.0 IP, 1 H, 3 K) threw 21 pitches, of which 14 were strikes. Andrew Bellatti pitched for the IronPigs in the bottom of the eighth inning.
Bellatti (1.0 IP, 2 K) threw 12 pitches, of which 9 were strikes. Dylan Covey was the new pitcher for Lehigh Valley in the bottom of the ninth inning. Covey (1.0 IP, 1 H, 2 K) threw 15 pitches, of which 11 were strikes to get the final three outs of the game.
Lehigh Valley finished the night with seven hits and committed one error. The win went to Lehigh Valley pitcher Tyler McKay for his third win of the season and Dylan Covey earned his second save of the season. The loss went to Scranton/Wilkes-Barre pitcher Alex Mauricio.
The IronPigs and RailRiders play a doubleheader on Wednesday beginning at 5:05 pm, followed by game two 30 minutes later on MiLB.TV. Purchase IronPigs tickets for the 2024 season today on StubHub and Viagogo.
