On Saturday night at Coca-Cola Park, the Lehigh Valley IronPigs took on the Worcester Red Sox in game five of the series. The IronPigs were looking to take the series lead with a win. Coming into this game, the IronPigs trailed the Durham Bulls by four games for first place in the International League East Division.
One transaction occurred before the game as the Philadelphia Phillies sent Hans Crouse to Lehigh Valley for a rehab assignment. Crouse (0-2, 11.05 ERA) was on the mound for the IronPigs, while the Worcester started Josh Winckowski (2-2, 3.83 ERA).
In the bottom of the first inning, IronPigs’ designated hitter Darick Hall hit an opposite-field home run over the wall at left field for a 1-0 lead with one out. It was Hall’s 23rd home run of the season. Two batters later, IronPigs’ catcher Rafael Marchan walked with two outs before Will Toffey flew out to left fielder Christian Stewart, ending the inning.
At the top of the third inning, IronPigs Hans Crouse gave up a double to Deivy Grullon, followed by another double from Nick Sogard into right field, scoring Grullon, which tied the game 1-1. IronPigs’ right fielder Jorge Bonifacio nearly caught the ball with a sliding catch but was a second late.
Two batters later, Crouse gave up a single to Bobby Dalbec, moving Sogard to third base. Then, Red Sox’s second baseman Enmanuel Valdez drove Sogard home with a single to right field for a 2-1 lead. That was it for Crouse, who was replaced by Trevor Bettencourt. Bettencourt gave up a three-run home run to Johan Mieses that went into the Capital Tiki Terrace & Oasis at left field for a 5-1 lead.
Two of the runs were charged to Crouse, whose final stats were 2.2 innings, allowing four hits, four runs, no walks, and four strikeouts in 48 pitches, of which 26 were strikes. Bettencourt got Christian Stewart to ground out, ending the inning. That was it for Bettencourt, who went 0.1 innings, allowing a hit, one run, no walks, and no strikeouts in five pitches, of which four were strikes.
James Marvel was the new IronPigs pitcher at the top of the fourth inning. Marvel got Ryan Fitzgerald to fly out, followed by back-to-back strikeouts from Jaylin Davis and Deivy Grullon, ending the inning.
IronPigs’ third baseman Will Toffey walked with two outs in the bottom of the fourth inning, followed by a single from Johan Camargo, moving Toffey to third base for Daniel Robertson. Then, Daniel Robertson reached first base on a fielding error by third baseman Nick Sogard when he overthrew the first baseman, Bobby Dalbec. Toffey scored, cutting Worcester’s lead, to 5-2 for Jorge Bonifacio.
Bonifacio doubled to left field on a misplayed ball by Jarren Duran, allowing two runs to score, and it was a one-run game, 5-4, with two outs with Scott Kingery coming to the plate. Kingery doubled on a fly ball off the wall at left field, scoring Bonifacio that tied the game, 5-5.
After Yairo Munoz singled, moving Kingery to third base, IronPigs’ designated hitter Darick Hall singled to center field, scoring Kingery and Munoz to give the IronPigs a 7-5 lead. The Red Sox took out Winckowski for Caleb Simpson. Simpson got Dustin Peterson to pop out, ending the inning.
There was a scary scene at the top of the sixth inning when James Marvel lost control of his pitch and hit Johan Mieses in the face. Luckily, the ball got a piece of his helmet, and Mieses was able to continue the game. Marvel shook it off, got Christian Stewart to fly out, struck out Ryan Fitzgerald, and a ground out from Jaylin Davis ended the inning. Marvel pitched one more inning. He went four innings, allowing one hit, no runs, and five strikeouts in 51 pitches, of which 34 were strikes.
In the bottom of the seventh inning, IronPigs’ designated hitter Darick Hall hit his second home run of the night over the wall at right field for an 8-5 lead. It was Hall’s 24th home run, and he is now five home runs away from tying Rhys Hoskins’s (29) home run record set in 2017.
Then, IronPigs’ left fielder Dustin Peterson walked, followed by a single from Rafael Marchan, moving Peterson to third base. Two batters later, Johan Camargo lined out to Worcester shortstop Ryan Fitzgerald, who then threw the ball that got by first baseman Bobby Dalbec. Peterson scored for a 9-5 lead with two outs. Daniel Robertson grounded out, ending the inning.
Griff McGary was the new IronPigs pitcher at the top of the eighth inning. He gave up a single to Enmanuel Valdez with one out, followed by walking Johan Mieses. Then, McGary threw a wild pitch, moving the runners up a base. During Christian Stewart’s at-bat, IronPigs’ catcher Rafael Marchan picked off Valdez at third base for the second out, and McGary struck out Stewart, ending the inning.
Jakob Hernandez was the new IronPigs pitcher at the top of the ninth inning. Hernandez gave up a single to Ryan Fitzgerald before getting a ground out from Jaylin Davis, a pop out from Deivy Grullon, and a ground out from Nick Sogard. The IronPigs won the game 9-5.
The IronPigs had nine hits in the game and moved their record to 72-62 for the season. They have now taken the series lead and can win it with a win on Sunday. In addition, the IronPigs got some great news as the Durham Bulls lost to the Scranton/Wilkes-Barre RailRiders 3-2 and now trail Durham by three games for first place.
The win went to IronPigs pitcher James Marvel for his fifth of the season, and the loss went to Red Sox’s pitcher Josh Winckowski. It was his third loss of the year.
The two teams meet for the final time of the season today at 1:35 pm. Tickets for the game can be purchased on StubHub, and pick up IronPigs merchandise at Fanatics.com.
