The Lehigh Valley IronPigs (55-57) played game two of a six-game series Wednesday night against the Worcester Red Sox (55-60) from Polar Park. Lehigh Valley starter Mick Abel (3-8, 6.18 ERA) was on the mound against Worcester’s Richard Fitts (6-5, 4.56 ERA).
At the top of the third inning with one out, Lehigh Valley right fielder Carlos De La Cruz hit Fitts’s fastball for a solo home run clearing the wall at right field for a 1-0 lead. The home run went 395 feet with an exit velocity of 100.7 mph. It was Cruz’s second home run of the season and 10th RBI of the year. Lehigh Valley did not add any more runs in the inning.
Moving to the bottom of the fifth inning, Worcester had a runner on second base with one out when Mark Contreras hit an RBI single to right field scoring Eddy Alvarez and the game was tied 1-1. Worcester did not score any more runs in the inning.
Mick Abel (5.0 IP, 3 H, 1 R, 4 BB, 7 K) threw 93 pitches, of which 54 were strikes. Dylan Covey was the new pitcher for Lehigh Valley in the bottom of the sixth inning. Covey (1.0 IP, 1 K) threw 11 pitches, of which 7 were strikes.
Blaine Knight was the new pitcher for Lehigh Valley in the bottom of the seventh inning. Knight (1.0 IP) threw 13 pitches, of which 11 were strikes. Michael Rucker was the new pitcher for Lehigh Valley in the bottom of the eighth inning.
Worcester had runners on the corners with one out when Bobby Dalbec hit an RBI single to left field scoring Chase Meidroth and the Red Sox took a 2-1 lead. A flyout by Eddy Alvarez ended the inning. Rucker (1.0 IP, 1 H, 1 R, 2 BB, 1 K) threw 27 pitches, of which 12 were strikes.
At the top of the ninth inning, Lehigh Valley had the bases loaded with two outs when Kody Clemens flies out toward center field Mark Contreras, who made the catch and the game was over. The IronPigs lost to the Red Sox 2-1. They are now down 2-0 in the series and on a three-game losing streak.
Lehigh Valley finished the night with eight hits and committed one error. The loss went to Lehigh Valley pitcher Michael Rucker for his first loss of the season and the win went to Worcester pitcher Brian Van Belle.
The IronPigs and Red Sox play game three on Thursday at 6:45 pm on MiLB.TV. Purchase IronPigs tickets for the 2024 season today on StubHub and Viagogo.
