The Lehigh Valley IronPigs (47-46) played game two of a three-game series on Saturday night against the Worcester Red Sox (44-50) from Coca-Cola Park. Lehigh Valley pitcher Nick Nelson (2-3, 8.17 ERA) was on the mound against Worcester’s Jason Alexander (4-5, 3.98 ERA).
In the bottom of the first inning, Lehigh Valley left fielder Kody Clemens hit Alexander’s slider for a solo home run over the wall at left field for a 1-0 lead. The home run went 362 feet with an exit velocity of 99 mph. It was Clemens’s sixth home run of the season and 24th RBI of the year. Lehigh Valley did not add any more runs in the inning.
At the top of the second inning, Worcester had runners on second and third base with one out when right fielder Matthew Lugo hit an RBI single to left field scoring Nick Sogard, and the game was tied 1-1. Then, Worcester center fielder Eddy Alvarez hit a sacrifice bunt toward first baseman Darick Hall scoring Niko Kavadas for a 2-1 lead. Nelson struck out Chase Meidroth to end the inning.
In the bottom of the third inning with two outs, Lehigh Valley first baseman Darick Hall hit Alexander’s sinker for a solo home onto the berm at center field and the game was tied 2-2. With that home run, Hall surpassed Andy Tracy with his 70th career home run as an IronPig.
The home run went 439 feet with an exit velocity of 107 mph. It was Hall’s 10th home run of the season and 43rd RBI of the year. Lehigh Valley designated hitter Carlos De La Cruz struck out swinging and the inning was over.
At the top of the fourth inning with one out, Worcester first baseman Niko Kavadas hit Nelson’s fastball for a solo home run clearing the wall at right field for a 3-2 lead. It was Kavadas’s 17th home run of the season. Nelson got the last two outs to end the inning.
Nick Nelson (4.0 IP, 3 H, 3 R, 3 BB, 2 K) threw 71 pitches, of which 36 were strikes. Griff McGarry was the new pitcher for Lehigh Valley at the top of the fifth inning. McGarry (1.0 IP, 1 H, 1 BB) threw 21 pitches, of which 11 were strikes.
Max Lazar was the new pitcher for Lehigh Valley at the top of the sixth inning. Lazar (1.0 IP, 1 H, 1 BB, 1 K) threw 20 pitches, of which 11 were strikes. In the bottom of the sixth inning, Lehigh Valley had runners on first and second base with two outs when catcher Cody Roberts hit an RBI single to left field scoring Cal Stevenson to tie the game 3-3. A ground out by Kody Clemens ended the inning.
Max Lazar (2.0 IP, 3 H, 1 BB, 4 K) threw 49 pitches, of which 30 were strikes. Michael Rucker was the new pitcher for Lehigh Valley at the top of the eighth inning. Rucker (1.0 IP, 1 H, 2 K) threw 14 pitches, of which 11 were strikes.
Tyler Gilbert was the new pitcher for Lehigh Valley at the top of the ninth inning. Gilbert (1.0 IP, 2 K) threw 12 pitches, of which 20 were strikes. In the bottom of the ninth inning, Ryan Zeferjahn was pitching for Worcester. He hit Lehigh Valley third baseman Buddy Kennedy before first baseman Darick Hall hit a double to right field.
Two batters later with one out, the Red Sox intentionally walked Simon Muzziotti loading the bases for Scott Kingery. Kingery flies out toward right fielder Matthew Lugo for the second out. Cal Stevenson was next. He worked a four-pitch walk scoring Buddy Kennedy and the IronPigs defeated the Red Sox 4-3.
Lehigh Valley finished the game with nine hits. The win went to Lehigh Valley pitcher Tyler Gilbert for his fourth win of the season and the loss went to Worcester pitcher Ryan Zeferjahn.
The IronPigs and Red Sox wrap up the three-game series on Sunday at 1:35 pm on MiLB.TV. Purchase IronPigs tickets for the 2024 season today on StubHub and Viagogo. Also, pick up IronPigs merchandise today at Rally House.
