The Lehigh Valley IronPigs (12-6) took on the Gwinnett Stripers (9-8) in game three of a six-game series on Thursday night from Coolray Field. Mick Abel (1-2, 3.94 ERA) was on the mound for Lehigh Valley against Nathan Wiles (0-0, 0.00 ERA) of Gwinnett.
Lehigh Valley left fielder Otto Kemp went 0 for 5 with a groundout and one RBI. Kemp grounded out at the top of the first inning scoring Cal Stevenson that gave them a 1-0 lead.
Gwinnett took a 2-1 lead in the bottom of the first inning when first baseman Garrett Cooper hit Abel’s slider 398 feet to left-center field.
Lehigh Valley second baseman Rafael Lantigua went 1 for 3 with a walk and one RBI. The bases were loaded when Lantigua drew a walk and Buddy Kennedy scored tying the game 2-2.
The game remained tied until the bottom of the ninth inning. Gwinnett had runners on second and third base when Charles Leblanc reached first base on a fielding error by first baseman Buddy Kennedy and Connor Capel scored giving the Stripers a 3-2 win over Lehigh Valley.
The IronPigs have now two straight games. They finished with 11 hits and committed one error. Lehigh Valley center fielder Justin Crawford went 4 for 5 with two stolen bases.
Lehigh Valley starter Mick Abel pitched 5.1 innings, allowing four hits, two runs, three walks, and eight strikeouts throwing 93 pitches, of which 60 were strikes in a no-decision.
The loss went to Lehigh Valley relief pitcher Brett de Geus. He pitched 0.2 inning, allowing one hit, one run, one walk, and one strikeout throwing 22 pitches, of which 13 were strikes. The win went to Gwinnett relief pitcher Jordan Weems.
The IronPigs and Stripers play game four on Friday at 7:05 pm. Purchase IronPigs tickets today on StubHub and Viagogo.
