The Lehigh Valley IronPigs (65-73) played game five of a seven-game series on Friday night against the Scranton/Wilkes-Barre RailRiders (82-59) from PNC Field. Lehigh Valley starter Tyler Phillips (7-5, 5.37 ERA) was on the mound against Scranton/Wilkes-Barre’s Tom Pannone (5-1, 1.99 ERA).
At the top of the first inning, Lehigh Valley shortstop Scott Kingery hit Pannone’s four-seam fastball for a solo home run over the wall at left field for a 1-0 lead. It was Kingery’s 24th home run of the season and 65th RBI of the season. Lehigh Valley did not add any more runs in the inning.
In the bottom of the third inning, Scranton/Wilkes-Barre had a runner on first base with one out when Jahmai Jones hit Phillips’s sinker for a two-run home run over the wall at center field for a 2-1 lead. Phillips did not allow any more runs in the inning.
At the top of the sixth inning, Lehigh Valley had runners on the corners with one out when second baseman Jim Haley hit a two-run RBI double to left field scoring Rafael Marchan and Ryan McKenna for a 3-2 lead. It was Haley’s 39th RBI of the season.
Two batters later with two outs, Lehigh Valley right fielder Carlos De La Cruz hit an RBI single to center field scoring Jim Haley for a 4-2 lead. It was Cruz’s 15th RBI of the season. A lineout by Trevor Schwecke ended the inning.
Tyler Phillips (7.0 IP, 4 H, 2 R, 2 ER, 1 BB, 4 K) threw 90 pitches, of which 57 were strikes. Andrew Bellatti was the new pitcher for Lehigh Valley in the bottom of the eighth inning. Scranton/Wilkes-Barre had a runner on second base when Jahmai Jones hit an RBI single to right field scoring Oscar Gonzalez and the RailRiders trailed the IronPigs 4-3. After giving up a single to Jorbit Vivas with Jones running to third base, Bellatti was replaced by Dylan Covey.
Scranton/Wilkes-Barre third baseman Caleb Durbin hit into a fielder’s choice to shortstop Scott Kingery, who threw the ball to catcher Rafael Marchan to get Jones out at home plate. Two batters later, Oswald Peraza grounded to third baseman Otto Kemp for a 5-3 inning-ending double play. Bellatti (0.0 IP, 3 H, 1 R, 1 ER) threw 13 pitches, of which 10 were strikes, while Covey (1.0 IP, 1 BB) threw 17 pitches, of which 7 were strikes.
Dylan Covey returned to pitch in the bottom of the ninth inning. Covey walked Taylor Trammell and Carlos Narvaez. A throwing error by Rafael Marchan allowed Trammell to steal third base with nobody out. Next, Covey walked J.C. Escarra and the bases were loaded.
Freddy Tarnok replaced Covey as the new pitcher for Lehigh Valley. Scranton/Wilkes-Barre right fielder Oscar Gonzalez hit an RBI single to left field scoring Cam Eden and the game was tied 4-4. T.J. Rumfield hit into a double play for two outs, and Tarnok struck out Jorbit Vivas to end the inning. Covey (1.0 IP, 1 R, 1 ER, 4 BB) threw 36 pitches, of which 14 were strikes, while Tarnok (1.0 IP, 1 H, 1 K) threw eight pitches, of which six were strikes.
Oddanier Mosqueda was the pitcher for Scranton/Wilkes-Barre at the top of the tenth inning with Trevor Schwecke at second base. Lehigh Valley were unable to bring him home and the game remained tied 4-4.
Freddy Tarnok pitched for Lehigh Valley in the bottom of the tenth inning with Jorbit Vivas starting at second base. He walked Caleb Durbin and Ben Rice to load the bases. Tarnok was replaced by Tyler McKay. Tarnok (1.0 IP, 1 H, 2 BB, 1 K) threw 13 pitches, of which 7 were strikes, while McKay (1.0 IP, 2 K) threw 17 pitches, of which 14 were strikes to get three outs.
Scott Effross was the new pitcher for Scranton/Wilkes-Barre at the top of the eleventh inning with Darick Hall at second base. With two outs and runners on the corners, Lehigh Valley right fielder Carlos De La Cruz hit an RBI single scoring Darick Hall for a 5-4 lead. It was Cruz’s 16th RBI of the season. Lehigh Valley did not add any more runs in the inning.
Tyler McKay pitched for Lehigh Valley in the bottom of the eleventh inning. Scranton/Wilkes-Barre had runners on the corners when Oscar Gonzalez scored Greg Allen and the game was tied 5-5. McKay loaded the bases with Ben Rice coming to the plate. McKay walked Rice and the IronPigs lost to the RailRiders 6-5. McKay (1.2 IP, 2 H, 2 R, 1 ER, 1 BB, 3 K) threw 37 pitches, of which 26 were strikes.
Lehigh Valley finished the night with seven hits and committed one error. The loss went to Lehigh Valley pitcher Tyler McKay for his third loss of the season, and the win went to Scranton/Wilkes-Barre pitcher Scott Effross.
The IronPigs and RailRiders play game six on Saturday at 4:05 pm on MiLB.TV. Purchase IronPigs tickets for the 2024 season today on StubHub and Viagogo.
