IR receiver is probably to control player movemeng in game.
Here it is low level protocol from hardware. How those read bits make commands need to be analyzed from ROM.
But when I light TV remote control into this sensor, the ball is fired so it works

Code:
[I... ....] $6000-$7fff (write)
|
+---------- 0: pull IRQ to VCC, 1: drive IRQ with data data from IR sensor
light received --+ +-+ +-+ +-----------
by IR sensor | | | | | |
+-+ +-+ +-+
^_______ some unknown frequency
output of --+ +-----------
IR sensor | |
+---------+
Huge cap at IR sensor causes short pulses to be ignored
--------------------------------------------------------------
[.... ...V] $5000-$5fff (read)
|
+-- read current bit from IR sensor (no matter if IRQ is enabled or not)
Hahaha, better than D-pad:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qFrkYxW1ehM