The Lehigh Valley IronPigs (67-76) played game three on Thursday night against the Worcester Red Sox (77-70) from Coca-Cola Park. Lehigh Valley starter Tyler Phillips (7-5, 5.19 ERA) was on the mound against Worcester’s Brad Keller (3-2, 3.26 ERA).
The game was scoreless through four innings until the top of the fifth inning. Worcester had runners on second and third base when Tyler McDonough hit the ball toward second baseman Jim Haley. Haley bobbled the ball allowing Jamie Westbrook to score for a 1-0 lead. Next, Reese McGuire hit an RBI double to left field scoring Bobby Dalbec for a 2-0 lead.
Then, Phillip Sikes grounded to Lehigh Valley third baseman Buddy Kennedy scoring Tyler McDonough for a 3-0 lead. A ground out by Chase Meidroth ended the inning.
In the bottom of the sixth inning, Lehigh Valley had the bases loaded when catcher Rafael Marchan grounded into a forceout at second base but scored Carson Taylor and the IronPigs trailed the Red Sox 3-1. It was Marchan’s 11th RBI of the season.
Next, Lehigh Valley center fielder Ryan McKenna brought Buddy Kennedy home with a sacrifice fly to right field and the IronPigs trailed the Red Sox 3-2. It was Kennedy’s 24th RBI of the season.
Three batters later, Lehigh Valley second baseman Jim Haley hit a two-run RBI single to center field scoring Rafael Marchan and Ethan Wilson for a 4-3 lead. It was Haley’s 41st RBI of the season. A lineout by right fielder Carlos De La Cruz ended the inning.
Lehigh Valley starter Tyler Phillips (6.0 IP, 3 H, 3 R, 2 ER, 2 BB, 3 K) threw 85 pitches, of which 52 were strikes. Jose Cuas was the new pitcher for Lehigh Valley at the top of the seventh inning. Cuas (1.0 IP, 1 K) threw 10 pitches, of which 7 were strikes to get three outs.
In the bottom of the seventh inning, Lehigh Valley had a runner on first base with two outs when first baseman Darick Hall hit Robert Kwiatkowski’s four-seem fastball for a two-run home run clearing the wall at right field for a 6-3 lead.
It was Hall’s 15th home run of the season and 68th RBI of the year. The home run went 402 feet with an exit velocity of 103.6 mph. A flyout by Rafael Marchan ended the inning.
Tristan Garnett was the new pitcher for Lehigh Valley at the top of the eighth inning. Garnett (1.0 IP, 2 K) threw 12 pitches, of which 8 were strikes to get three outs. Dylan Covey was the new pitcher for Lehigh Valley at the top of the ninth inning. Covey got three straight groundouts from Mickey Gasper, Vaughn Grissom, and Jamie Westbrook to get the final three outs of the game. Covey (1.0 IP) threw 11 pitches, of which 6 were strikes.
The IronPigs defeated the Red Sox 6-3. They retired the last 13 batters to win the game. Lehigh Valley finished the night with seven hits and committed one error. The win to Lehigh Valley starter Tyler Phillips for his eighth win of the season, and Dylan Covey earned his third save of the season. The loss went to Worcester pitcher Brad Keller.
The IronPigs and Red Sox play game four on Friday at 7:05 pm on MiLB.TV. Purchase IronPigs tickets for the 2024 season today on StubHub and Viagogo.
