Fernández Drives in Six as Ironpigs Fall 8-4

Yanquiel Fernández drove in six runs and the Scranton/Wilkes-Barre RailRiders beat the ironpigs 8-4 on Tuesday night at Coca-Cola Park. Lehigh Valley opened a six-game homestand with a loss that turned on a fifth-inning error and a quick RailRiders burst.

Fernández Starts the Damage

Fernández put Scranton/Wilkes-Barre in front in the third inning with an RBI single that scored Duke Ellis. He then broke the game open in the fifth with a two-run home run, giving him 10 home runs on the season and pushing the RailRiders ahead 4-1.

That was the sharpest swing in the game. Lehigh Valley had already used Dylan Carlson’s solo home run in the fourth to pull even at 1-1, but the tie did not last long once Jonathan Ornelas scored on a throwing error by Max Lazar and Fernández followed with the long ball.

Coca-Cola Park Shift

Lehigh Valley answered in the bottom of the fifth, but only partially. Sergio Alcantara drove in Dylan Moore with an RBI single, and Felix Reyes added a sacrifice fly to score Carter Kieboom, trimming the deficit to 4-3 before the inning ended.

Scranton/Wilkes-Barre kept moving in the sixth. Jonathan Ornelas doubled in Ali Sanchez, then George Lombard Jr. added a two-run single that scored Ornelas and Ellis for a 7-3 lead. Ernesto Martinez Jr. followed in the seventh with a sacrifice fly to bring home Oswaldo Cabrera and make it 8-3.

Lehigh Valley’s Early Hole

Levi Stoudt started for Lehigh Valley and worked one inning, allowing a hit while striking out two. Brendan Beck started for Scranton/Wilkes-Barre, while Ryan Cusick handled three innings for Lehigh Valley and allowed four hits and two runs.

The night also came with roster movement before first pitch: the Philadelphia Phillies recalled Otto Kemp, sent Felix Reyes to Lehigh Valley, and released Genesis Cabrera, Lenny Torres Jr., and Jonathan Hernandez. Lehigh Valley got one more run in the seventh on Steward Berroa’s RBI single, but the game was already at 8-4 when the article ended at the top of the eighth inning.

RailRiders Keep Pressure On

Scranton/Wilkes-Barre entered at 24-20 and left with another road win over the IronPigs, who came in at 20-26. Fernández finished as the deciding bat in a game that flipped from a tie to a four-run RailRiders lead in two innings, leaving Lehigh Valley with work to do after a homestand opener that slipped away fast.