On Thursday night at Coca-Cola Park, the Lehigh Valley IronPigs (25-20) played game three against the Worcester Red Sox (20-25), looking for their second straight win.
Cristopher Sanchez (1-0, 3.00 ERA) was on the mound for the IronPigs, while the Red Sox started Thomas Pannone (3-1, 4.99 ERA).
In the first three innings, IronPigs’ starter Cristopher Sanchez shut down the Red Sox until he ran into trouble at the top of the fourth inning. Sanchez gave up two singles to Red Sox’s first baseman Ryan Fitzgerald and center fielder Jaylin Davis, putting the runners on the corners with one out.
Davis would advance to second base after Sanchez threw a wild pitch. Finally, with two outs, Red Sox’s designated hitter Ronaldo Hernandez singled on a ground ball that slowly rolled and hit the third base bag, scoring a run that put Worcester up 1-0.
Cristopher Sanchez was able to get the third out that ended the inning. It would be his last inning as Sanchez pitched four innings, allowing six hits, one run, no walks, and five strikeouts.
In the bottom of the fourth inning, the IronPigs tied the game. IronPigs’ third baseman Yairo Munoz was up at-bat with two outs. He hit a solo home run into the IronPigs bullpen in left field, tying the game 1-1.
Moving ahead to the bottom of the fifth inning, the IronPigs took the lead. IronPigs’ second baseman Scott Kingery was up at-bat with a runner on second base. He singled out to left field, scoring a run that put the IronPigs up 2-1.
Lehigh Valley’s bullpen took care of the rest. They shut down the Red Sox for the rest of the game. However, the IronPigs almost blew the game at the top of the ninth inning. Francisco Morales closed out the game for the IronPigs. He walked two batters but worked his way to get the three outs, and the IronPigs won the game 2-1.
The win went to IronPigs’ relief pitcher Jakob Hernandez (1.0 IP, 0 H, 0 R, 0 BB, 2 SO), while the loss went to Red Sox’s starter Thomas Pannone (5.0 IP, 6 H, 2 R, 1 BB, 5 SO), and Morales earned his first save of the season (1.0 IP, 0 H, 0 R, 2 BB, 1 SO).
The series continues with game four tonight at 7:05 pm for Jurassic Park night. Tickets can be purchased thanks to our friends at StubHub, and pick up IronPigs merchandise today at Fanatics.com.
