The Lehigh Valley IronPigs (34-34) returned to Polar Park for the second time this year on Tuesday night against the Worcester Red Sox (36-34). This is the third meeting of the season between these teams with the series tied at six apiece.
Before this game, two transactions happened on Monday and Tuesday. First, the Philadelphia Phillies activated first baseman Darick Hall from his rehab assignment and reinstated him from the 60-day IL, but kept him in Lehigh Valley. However, to make room on the 40-man roster, the Phillies designated hitter Dalton Guthrie for assignment. The Phillies will have one week to decide if they are trading Guthrie, putting him on waivers, or keeping him.
Then, the Philadelphia Phillies activated catcher Rafael Marchan from his rehab assignment and reinstated him from the 60-day IL, but kept him in Lehigh Valley. To make room on the 40-man roster, the Phillies released LHP Michael Plassmeyer.
Lehigh Valley went with a bullpen game with Jeremy Walker (5-0, 3.08 ERA) on the mound making his second start against Worcester’s Shane Drohan (2-2, 5.34 ERA).
After a scoreless first inning, Worcester scored first in the bottom of the second inning when Niko Goodrum hit Walker’s fastball for a solo home run 423 feet onto the berm at center field for a 1-0 lead with one out. Walker got the last two outs which ended the inning. That was it for Walker, who pitched two innings, allowing one hit, one run, one walk, and two strikeouts in 29 pitches, of which 17 were strikes.
Lehigh Valley responded at the top of the third inning. First, Shane Drohan walked Scott Kingery and Cal Stevenson with nobody out for Jake Cave. Cave doubled off the wall at left field, scoring Kingery that tied the game 1-1 with Drew Ellis next. The RBI was Cave’s 40th of the season.
Then, Drew Ellis hit a two-run double to left field, scoring Stevenson and Cave that made it 3-1. It was Ellis’s third double of the season and the 24th RBI of the year with 15 of them coming against the Red Sox. Lehigh Valley could not add any more runs in the inning.
Moving to the bottom of the fourth inning, Francisco Morales was pitching for Lehigh Valley. With one out, Bobby Dalbec hit Morales’s ball 115 mph off the bat and sent it to space for a solo home run that made it 3-2 Lehigh Valley.
There was no distance calculated on the home run. After walking Niko Goodrum, Lehigh Valley got out of the inning as Ronaldo Hernandez grounded into a double play which retired the side.
Lehigh Valley center fielder Jake Cave started the top of the fifth inning with a double to left field. Two batters later with one out and Cave at third base, Weston Wilson grounded softly toward first baseman Stephen Scott, scoring Cave for a 4-2 lead with two outs. Dustin Peterson struck out swinging that ended the inning.
Then, at the top of the sixth inning, Joely Rodriguez was the new pitcher for Worcester. With one out, Rafael Marchan singled to right field. However, Simon Muzziotti grounded to first baseman Stephen Scott, who made the throw to second base to get Marchan out and Muzziotti was safe at first base with two outs for Scott Kingery.
Kingery doubled off the wall at right field, scoring Muzziotti for a 5-2 lead before running to third base on a throwing error by right fielder Bobby Dalbec. Cal Stevenson was next but was called out on strikes which ended the inning.
Lehigh Valley had a three-run lead heading into the bottom of the seventh inning where the game got away. Jacob Barnes was pitching for Lehigh Valley in the bottom of the seventh inning. He gave up back-to-back singles to Niko Goodrum and Ronaldo Hernandez with nobody out for Daniel Palka.
Next, Palka singled out to left field, scoring Goodrum and it was now 5-3 Lehigh Valley. Two batters later with one out, Christian Koss hit the ball softly toward shortstop Weston Wilson. He tossed the ball to Scott Kingery but Kingery overthrew the first baseman Jim Haley and a run scored.
It was now 5-4 Lehigh Valley. Later, Barnes gave up a single to Marcus Wilson with Coss running to third base before being taken out of the game for Jace Vines with two outs. The inning would come to an end as Rafael Marchan picked off Christian Koss on a throw to third base which retired the side.
In the bottom of the eighth inning, Jace Vines gave up a single to Nick Sogard followed by walking Stephen Scott. Next, Vines struck out Bobby Dalbec but Niko Goodrum tied the game 5-5 with an RBI single to left field. Vines, like the other Lehigh Valley pitchers had trouble finding the strikes zone. Then, Vines walked Ronaldo Hernandez with Daniel Palka heading to bat. Palka put Worcester in the lead with a two-run single to left field that made it 7-5 Worcester. The Red Sox scored five unanswered runs in two innings.
Jace Vines was taken out of the game and replaced by Taylor Lehman. Lehman bailed out Vines by getting the last two outs of the inning.
Lehigh Valley had one more chance to get the lead back at the top of the ninth inning. They had to face Brendan Nail. Simon Muzziotti faced Nail first and worked a four-pitch walk. Two batters later with one out, Jim Haley reached first base on a fielding error by first baseman Stephen Scott and Muzziotti went to second base. Jake Cave was next. Unfortunately, Cave grounded into a game-ending double play and the IronPigs lose game one by the final score of 7-5.
Lehigh Valley’s pitching has been inconsistent this year. Last week, they had a good series against Toledo while the offense could not generate runs. This time around, the roles were reversed as the offense did the scoring but the pitching could not hold the fort down.
Worcester is a tough opponent. They are now on a four-game winning streak and 8-2 in their last ten games. As a team, Worcester is ranked fifth in hitting and 12th in pitching for the International League. Meanwhile, Lehigh Valley is now 4-6 in their last ten games. They rank seventh in hitting and 13th in pitching in the International League, one spot behind Worcester.
Lehigh Valley finished the night with seven hits, went 3 for 8 with runners in scoring position, and left five men on base. Jace Vines lost his first game as a member of the IronPigs, while Theo Denlinger was the winning pitcher for Worcester, and Brendan Nail earned his first save of the season.
The IronPigs and Red Sox play game two on Wednesday at 6:45 pm on MiLB.com. Tickets for the game are available on StubHub and Viagogo. Also, pick up IronPigs merchandise today at Fanatics.com.
