The Lehigh Valley IronPigs (79-64, 43-27) returned to Coca-Cola Park to begin the final six games of the regular season on Tuesday night against the Worcester Red Sox (77-66, 38-31). The IronPigs trail the overall series 8-10.
Several transactions took place while the IronPigs were off on Monday. With the Reading Fightin’ Phils season now over, right-hand pitchers Erick Uelmen, McKinley Moore, Orion Kerkering, and Hans Crouse were assigned to the Lehigh Valley IronPigs.
Meanwhile, right-hand pitchers Tyler Phillips and Drew Hutchison, and outfielder Brewer Hicklen were transferred to the Development List.
Shaun Anderson (4-2, 5.09 ERA) was on the mound for Lehigh Valley making his 11th start of the season against Worcester’s Kyle Barraclough (8-1, 3.60 ERA).
At the top of the first inning, Shaun Anderson gave up a double to Corey Rosier on the first pitch of the game. Next, Anderson loaded the bases when he walked Nick Sogard and Enmanuel Valdez with Ronaldo Hernandez up to bat.
Hernandez grounded into a 5-3 double play but Rosier scored to make it 1-0 Worcester with two outs for Stephen Scott. Anderson struck out Scott with a slider which ended the inning.
Kody Clemens started the bottom of the first inning working a four-pitch walk. Two batters later with one out, Darick Hall moved Clemens to second base with a pop-up single to center field.
Next, Matt Kroon put the ball down for a base hit to center field scoring Clemens which tied the game 1-1. It was Kroon’s eighth RBI of the season. Simon Muzziotti was next. However, he grounded into an inning-ending 4-6-3 double play.
Lehigh Valley threatened to take the lead in the bottom of the second inning. With two outs, Drew Ellis worked a four-pitch walk, followed by a Scott Kingery single to center field. Then, Kody Clemens worked a four-pitch walk which loaded the bases for Weston Wilson. Wilson struck out chasing Barraclough’s slider to end the inning.
Moving ahead to the top of the fourth inning with two outs, Stephen Scott hit Shaun Anderson’s fastball for a solo home run over the wall at right field which made it 2-1 Worcester. It was Scott’s 13th home run of the season.
The home run went 398 feet with an exit velocity of 104 mph. Two batters later with two outs, Anderson walked Niko Kavadas before giving up a single to Christian Koss which loaded the bases for Bradley Zimmer. Zimmer grounded out toward first baseman Darick Hall, who stepped on the first base bag that ended the inning.
Worcester’s lead did not last long in the bottom of the fourth inning. Drew Ellis worked a four-pitch walk to begin the inning. Next, Scott Kingery hit his 18th double of the season toward left field moving Ellis to third base with Kody Clemens up to bat.
Clemens grounded out toward first baseman Niko Kavadas which scored Ellis that tied the game 2-2. It was Clemens’s 50th RBI of the season. Two batters later with two outs, Kyle Barraclough walked Darick Hall and Matt Kroon which loaded the bases for Simon Muzziotti.
Muzziotti grounded toward second baseman Enmanuel Valdez, who threw the ball to first baseman Niko Kavadas for the final out of the inning.
Moving ahead to the top of the sixth inning, Shaun Anderson gave up a double to Ronaldo Hernandez. Next, he struck out Stephen Scott, followed by a Narcisco Crook groundout toward third baseman Drew Ellis, who threw the ball to first baseman Darick Hall.
Then, Anderson struck out Niko Kavadas to end the inning. That was it for Anderson, who pitched six innings, allowing four hits, two runs, three walks, and eight strikeouts in 89 pitches, of which 54 were strikes.
Eric Uelmen was the new pitcher for Lehigh Valley at the top of the seventh inning. He gave up two straight singles to Corey Rosier and Nick Sogard moving Rosier to third base with two outs. Enmanuel Valdez was next.
During his at-bat, Uelmen threw a wild pitch and Rosier scored for a 3-2 Worcester lead. Next, Uelmen walked Valdez before striking out Ronaldo Hernandez to end the inning.
Joely Rodriguez was the new Worcester pitcher in the bottom of the seventh inning. He gave up two straight singles to Aramis Garcia and Cal Stevenson. Next, Drew Ellis grounded into a forceout at third base with Esteban Quiroz up to bat.
During his at-bat, Stevenson and Drew Ellis stole second and third base. Then, Quiroz hit a soft ground ball toward second baseman Enmanuel Valdez, who grabbed the ball before throwing it to first baseman Niko Kavadas. Stevenson scored which tied the game 3-3. It was Quiroz’s 58th RBI of the season. Kody Clemens was next but he was called out on strikes and the inning was over.
Taylor Lehman was the new pitcher for Lehigh Valley at the top of the eighth inning. He walked Stephen Scott before getting Narciso Crook to ground into a 6-4-3 double play. Then, Lehman struck out Niko Kavadas to end the inning.
In the bottom of the eighth inning with two outs, Matt Kroon hit Justin Garcia’s changeup for a solo home run into the IronPigs’ bullpen at left field to give the IronPigs a 4-3 lead. It was Kroon’s third home run of the season and ninth RBI of the year. The home run went 400 feet with an exit velocity of 107.5 mph. A bunt groundout by Simon Muzziotti ended the inning.
Andrew Bellatti closed out the game for the IronPigs at the top of the ninth inning. With one out, he walked Bradley Zimmer. Next, he struck out Corey Rosier before getting Nick Sogard to groundout toward first baseman Darick Hall, who tossed the ball to Bellatti and the game was over. The IronPigs defeated the Red Sox by the final score of 4-3.
Lehigh Valley finished the night with ten hits, committed one error, went 1 for 16 with runners in scoring position, and left 13 men on base. Taylor Lehman earned his fifth win of the season for Lehigh Valley, with Andrew Bellatti earning his sixth save of the year, and Justin Garcia lost his first game of the season for Worcester.
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.
