The Lehigh Valley IronPigs (48-46) concluded the three-game series on Sunday afternoon against the Worcester Red Sox (44-51) from Coca-Cola Park. Lehigh Valley starter David Buchanan (6-3, 5.03 ERA) was on the mound against Worcester’s Richard Fitts (5-4, 4.76 ERA).
In the bottom of the second inning with one out, Lehigh Valley center fielder Cal Stevenson hit Fitts’s slider for a solo home run onto the berm at left-center field for a 1-0 lead. The home run went 376 feet with an exit velocity of 99.6 mph. It was Stevenson’s seventh home run of the season and 36th RBI of the year. Lehigh Valley did not add any more runs in the inning.
In the bottom of the third inning, Lehigh Valley had a runner on first base with one out when right fielder Carlos De La Cruz hit Fitts’s slider for a two-run home run onto the seats at left field extending the IronPigs lead 3-0. The home run went 359 feet with an exit velocity of 103 mph. It was Cruz’s first home run of the season and seventh RBI of the year. A flyout from Simon Muzziotti and a groundout by Scott Kingery ended the inning.
In the bottom of the fourth inning, Lehigh Valley had a runner on second base with one out when designated hitter Nick Podkul hit an RBI double to left field scoring Cal Stevenson for a 4-0 lead. It was Podkul’s fifth double of the season. Lehigh Valley did not add any more runs in the inning.
At the top of the fifth inning, Worcester had a runner on second base with two outs when Vaughn Grissom hit an RBI double to center field scoring Mark Contreras and the Red Sox trailed the IronPigs 4-1. Two batters later, a line out by Bobby Dalbec to second baseman Kody Clemens ended the inning.
Brian Van Belle was the new pitcher for Worcester in the bottom of the fifth inning. Lehigh Valley had runners on second and third base when left field Simon Muzziotti brought Rafael Marchan home with a sacrifice fly to center field for a 5-1 lead. Scott Kingery and Cal Stevenson both grounded out to end the inning.
David Buchanan (5.1 IP, 4 H, 1 R, 3 BB, 3 K) threw 95 pitches, of which 55 were strikes. Taylor Lehman replaced Buchanan at the top of the sixth inning with one out. Lehman (0.2 IP) threw 8 pitches, of which five were strikes to get the final two outs of the inning.
In the bottom of the sixth inning with one out, Lehigh Valley second baseman Kody Clemens hit Van Belle’s changeup for a solo home run over the wall at right field for a 6-1 lead. The home run went 401 feet with an exit velocity of 104.2 mph. It was Clemens’s seventh home run of the season and 25th RBI of the year. Lehigh Valley did not add any more runs in the inning.
Andrew Bellatti was the new pitcher for Lehigh Valley at the top of the seventh inning. Worcester had the bases loaded with two outs when Bobby Dalbec reached first base on a throwing error by third baseman Buddy Kennedy and scoring from third base was Tyler Heineman and the score was now 6-2 Lehigh Valley.
Next, Bellatti walked Mickey Gasper forcing in another run and it was now 6-3 Lehigh Valley. Bellatti (0.2 IP, 1 H, 2 R, 3 BB) threw 31 pitches, of which 14 were strikes. Tyler McKay was the new pitcher for Lehigh Valley. McKay struck out Niko Kavadas to end the inning.
At the top of the eighth inning, Lehigh Valley pitcher Tyler McKay walked the first three batters to load the bases for Nick Sogard. Sogard lined out toward left fielder Simon Muzziotti for the first out. Next, McKay was replaced by Tyler Gilbert. Worcester third baseman Eddy Alvarez grounded into a forceout at second base but scored Matthew Lugo and the Red Sox trailed the IronPigs 6-4. A ground out by Enmanuel Valdez ended the inning.
Tyler McKay (0.2 IP, 1 R, 3 BB, 1 K) threw 24 pitches, of which 9 were strikes, while Gilbert (0.2 IP) threw 8 pitches, of which 5 were strikes.
Tyler Gilbert pitched for Lehigh Valley at the top of the ninth inning. He struck out Bobby Dalbec, got Mickey Gasper to fly out toward left fielder Simon Muzziotti, and struck out Niko Kavadas to end the game. The IronPigs defeated the Red Sox 6-4. It is their fifth straight series win. The IronPigs take two out of three games from Worcester.
Lehigh Valley finished the afternoon with eight hits and committed two errors. The win went to Lehigh Valley starter David Buchanan. It is his seventh win of the season, while Tyler Gilbert earned his sixth save of the season. The loss went to Worcester pitcher Richard Fitts.
Lehigh Valley will begin a 12-game road trip starting on Tuesday in Rochester against the Red Wings at 6:45 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.
