On Tuesday night, the Lehigh Valley IronPigs (48-59) started a six-game series with a 5-4 loss to the Worcester Red Sox (61-47) at Polar Park.
Colton Eastman (0-0, 0.00) made his IronPigs debut. He was at Reading with a record of 0-3 and a 3.55 ERA. The Red Sox started Daniel Gossett (6-3, 4.44 ERA).
A couple of Phillies players made their rehab assignments with Andrew Knapp catching, and Matt Joyce playing right field. Knapp is working his way back from COVID and Matt Joyce from a lower back strain that has kept him on the sidelines since July 30th. Luke Williams is also making his way back from COVID but was not in the lineup.
The game went scoreless for the first two innings then in the bottom of the third inning the action picked up. First, there was a double by Red Sox shortstop Jeter Downs, then Red Sox center fielder Tate Matheny singled on a line drive to left field to put the Red Sox up 1-0. Two batters later, Red Sox catcher Connor Wong made it 2-0 with an RBI single to right field.
Iron Pigs began to heat up in the fourth inning. With runners on first and second base, left fielder Adam Haseley reached first base on a fielding error by Red Sox third baseman Chad De La Guerra. C.J. Chatham was able to score to cut the Red Sox lead to 2-1.
At the top of the fifth inning, with a runner on second base, IronPigs shortstop Nick Maton put Lehigh Valley in the lead 3-2 with a two-run home run out towards right field. Then, in the bottom of the fifth inning with one out, IronPigs pitcher Colton Eastman gave up a couple of hits before being replaced with Zach McAllister. Eastman finished the game (4.1 IP, 7 H, 3 R, 3 ER, 1 BB, 1 SO).
Then, Red Sox right fielder Joey Meneses grounded out to second baseman C.J. Chatham, scoring a run that tied the game 3-3.
With the game tied at the top of the sixth inning and a runner on second base, IronPigs right fielder Matt Joyce broke the tie with an RBI double on a sharp fly ball to left field, scoring a run for a 4-3 lead.
The IronPigs pitchers could not protect the lead in the bottom of the seventh inning. Seranthony Dominguez was the new IronPigs pitcher. On a 1-2 count, Dominguez gave up a solo run to Red Sox third baseman Chad De La Guerra to tie the game 4-4. The ball went over the Country Bank sign in right field. He then walked two Red Sox batters before being replaced by Jeff Singer. Jeff Singer hit Red Sox’s second baseman Jack Lopez to load the bases. Next, he threw a wild pitch, and the Red Sox took a 5-4 lead.
At the top of the ninth inning, Austin Brice was the new pitcher for the Red Sox. With two outs, IronPigs shortstop Nick Maton was the last hope to tie the game. He fought hard before Austin Brice struck him out with a slider to end the game. The IronPigs went down 5-4 to the Red Sox.
The win went to Red Sox pitcher Colten Brewer (2.1 IP, 2 H, 1 R, 1 ER, 2 BB, 2 SO), while the loss went to IronPigs pitcher Seranthony Dominguez (0.2 IP, 1 H, 2 R, 2 ER, 1 BB, 1 HR).
Game two of the six-game series continues today at 6:35 pm. Vince Velazquez (0-0, 3.00 ERA) makes another rehab assignment for the IronPigs. The Red Sox will name their pitcher later.
