IronPigs Erase 5-0 Deficit, Stun Durham Bulls With 10-Run Comeback

Bryan De La Cruz hit two home runs and reliever Connor Gillispie threw four scoreless innings as the Lehigh Valley IronPigs erased a 5-0 deficit and beat the Durham Bulls 10-6 Friday night at Durham Bulls Athletic Park, moving to 6-1 on the young Triple-A season.

The flip arrived in the seventh inning. With Lehigh Valley staring down a five-run hole, Liover Peguero ripped a two-run single before De La Cruz crushed a three-run blast to left field that tied the game at 5-5. Five runs, one inning, game reset.

The eighth closed the case. Christian Cairo delivered the go-ahead RBI single, then Caleb Ricketts hammered a two-run double down the right-field line. De La Cruz followed with his second home run of the night to make it 10-5. Durham reliever Alex Cook (0-2) absorbed all three of those blows and took the loss, unable to contain a lineup that produced in waves rather than one burst.

Durham's five-run advantage had appeared decisive. Zack Wheeler, making his second outing as part of a structured rehab assignment, was touched for five two-out runs in the third inning. Raynel Delgado opened the damage with a two-run double, and Jacob Melton followed with a three-run homer. Wheeler departed after three innings charged with five earned runs on four hits, two walks, and two hit batters. The Bulls' early lead reflected both the volatility of a rehabbing pitcher finding his way back and the unfinished quality of a Lehigh Valley lineup still two innings removed from its breakthrough.

What bridged the gap was Gillispie. After Wheeler exited, Gillispie entered and threw four consecutive scoreless innings, allowing just one baserunner on a double while striking out five. His performance essentially froze Durham's offense long enough for the IronPigs to find their rhythm, and he improved to 2-0. Blake Sabol hit a solo homer for Durham in the ninth, but the 10-6 final reflected the extent of a collapse the Bulls could not reverse.

Six games into the season, Lehigh Valley's 6-1 record is less about any single player carrying the load than about distributed production. Peguero ignited the seventh; Cairo started the eighth; Ricketts extended it; De La Cruz punctuated it twice. That dispersal of damage across the lineup is an early signal of a club with genuine depth at the top of the International League.

Lehigh Valley closes the series at Durham on Saturday with Ryan Cusick scheduled to start.