Lehigh Valley came home Tuesday night and walked straight into a game that kept changing shape. The IronPigs opened a six-game homestand against the Scranton/Wilkes-Barre RailRiders at Coca-Cola Park and were still playing from behind when the article ended in the top of the eighth inning, down 8-4 after a long stretch of swings from both sides.
Yanquiel Fernández gave Scranton/Wilkes-Barre the first edge with an RBI single in the third, scoring Duke Ellis for a 1-0 lead. Lehigh Valley answered in the fourth when Dylan Carlson launched a solo home run, his third of the season, to make it 1-1. Carlson’s drive traveled 353 feet and left his bat at 97.5 mph, a quick equalizer in a game that never settled down.
The biggest blow came in the fifth. After a throwing error by Max Lazar let Jonathan Ornelas score and put the RailRiders ahead 2-1, Fernández followed with a two-run home run, his 10th of the season, to stretch the margin to 4-1. Lehigh Valley punched back in the bottom half when Sergio Alcantara singled home Dylan Moore and Felix Reyes lifted a sacrifice fly to bring Carter Kieboom in, trimming the deficit to 4-3. By then, the game had already turned into a test of which bullpen could steady itself first.
That question tilted to Scranton/Wilkes-Barre in the sixth. Daniel Harper was charged with two hits, two runs and a walk in the inning, and the RailRiders turned the opening into a surge. Jonathan Ornelas doubled in a run and George Lombard Jr. added a two-run single to push the lead to 7-3. Ernesto Martinez Jr. then added a sacrifice fly in the seventh to make it 8-3 before Steward Berroa answered in the bottom half with an RBI single that scored Alcantara and cut it to 8-4.
The game also carried roster movement from Philadelphia before first pitch. The Phillies recalled infielder/outfielder Otto Kemp and sent infielder Felix Reyes to Lehigh Valley, then released pitchers Genesis Cabrera, Lenny Torres Jr. and Jonathan Hernandez. For the IronPigs, Levi Stoudt opened on the mound and worked one inning, allowing one hit and striking out two on 15 pitches, 11 of them strikes. Brendan Beck started for Scranton/Wilkes-Barre. Ryan Cusick followed Stoudt and went three innings, allowing four hits, two runs, one walk and one strikeout on 49 pitches, 30 for strikes.
Lehigh Valley entered at 20-26, while Scranton/Wilkes-Barre arrived at 24-20. That gap showed up in the middle innings, when the RailRiders kept finding timely swings and the IronPigs kept having to answer from behind. Tuesday’s opener was only the first game of the six-game series, but the tone was already set: this one would be decided by who could survive the next mistake.
