The Lehigh Valley IronPigs (19-21) were back at Polar Park for game five Saturday afternoon against the Worcester Red Sox (26-14). Before the game took place, there were several moves by the Phillies. They called up catcher Rafael Marchan and outfielder Matt Vierling. Lehigh Valley got center fielder Dalton Guthrie from Reading; he played center field.
The starting pitchers for the game were Cristopher Sanchez (2-1, 3.29 ERA) for Lehigh Valley and Kyle Hart (2-3, 5.92 ERA) for Worcester.
In the bottom of the second inning, with two outs and a runner on second, Red Sox third baseman Jack Lopez singled to right field, scoring a run for a 1-0 lead.
Two innings later, with a runner on second and two outs, Jack Lopez put the ball to left field that drove another run home for a 2-0 lead.
Moving ahead to the bottom of the seventh inning, Lehigh Valley brought in pitcher Mauricio Llovera. Then, with a runner on first and one out, Red Sox left fielder Frenchy Cordero doubled to right field, scoring a run that extended Worcester’s lead 3-0. Due to a throwing error by IronPigs second baseman Sal Gozzo, allowing Cordero to head to third base. Then, a Michael Chavis sacrifice fly made it 4-0.
In the bottom of the eighth inning, with two outs and a runner on third, Red Sox third baseman Jack Lopez singled after the ball hit IronPigs pitcher Jeff Singer’s glove, and Lopez was safe on first while a runner scored for a 5-0 lead. Then, a single by Red Sox center fielder Jarren Duran made it 6-0.
At the top of the ninth inning, the Red Sox brought in Phillips Valdez. On a 1-0 count, IronPigs right fielder Ryan Cordell crushed a solo home run out towards center field that ended the shutout 6-1. Four batters later, with one out and runners on second and third, Lehigh Valley center fielder Dalton Guthrie hit an RBI single to center field, making it 6-2.
Then, IronPigs second baseman Sal Gozzo reached first base on a fielding error, scoring another run to cut the lead in half 6-3. With two outs and a runner on first, IronPigs left fielder Mickey Moniak popped up to end the game.
The IronPigs lose again to the Red Sox 6-3. It is now the IronPigs third straight loss. The win went to Red Sox pitcher Kyle Hart (7.0 IP, 3 H, 4 BB, 5 SO), and the loss went to Lehigh Valley pitcher Cristopher Sanchez (4.0 IP, 6 H, 2 ER, 2 BB, 4 SO).
Lehigh Valley concludes the series tomorrow at 1:05 pm on MiLB.com. Adonis Medina (3-4, 5.61) starts for Lehigh Valley, while the Red Sox will announce their pitcher tomorrow.
