The Lehigh Valley IronPigs (67-77) and the Worcester Red Sox (78-70) played game four on Friday night from Coca-Cola Park. Lehigh Valley starter Seth Johnson (2-1, 2.70 ERA) was on the mound against Worcester’s Justin Hagenman (4-6, 5.03 ERA).
At the top of the first inning, Worcester had a runner on third base when Lehigh Valley starter Seth Johnson threw a wild pitch scoring Roman Anthony for a 1-0 lead. Worcester did not score any more runs in the inning.
In the bottom of the third inning, Lehigh Valley had a runner on third base with one out when second baseman Buddy Kennedy hit an RBI single to left field scoring Ryan McKenna, and the game was tied 1-1. It was Kennedy’s 47th RBI of the season. Lehigh Valley did not add any more runs in the inning.
Seth Johnson (3.0 IP, 2 H, 1 R, 1 ER, 2 BB, 3 K) threw 59 pitches, of which 34 were strikes. Andrew Schultz was the new pitcher for Lehigh Valley at the top of the fourth inning.
Worcester had a runner on first base with no outs when Alex Binelas hit Andrew Schultz’s four-seam fastball clearing the wall at left field for a 3-1 lead. Nick Nelson replaced Schultz as the new pitcher for Lehigh Valley with two outs.
Nelson got Kyle Teel to ground out to second baseman Buddy Kennedy and the inning was over. Schultz (0.2 IP, 1 H, 2 R, 2 ER, 4 BB, 1 K) threw 32 pitches, of which 14 were strikes, and Nelson (2.1 IP, 1 H, 3 K) threw 34 pitches, of which 21 were strikes.
Tyler McKay was the new pitcher for Lehigh Valley at the top of the seventh inning. Worcester had runners on the corners with one out when Alex Binelas hit an RBI single to right field scoring Kyle Teel for a 4-1 lead. Worcester did not add any more runs in the inning. McKay (1.0 IP, 2 H, 1 R, 1 ER, 1 BB, 1 K) threw 23 pitches, of which 13 were strikes. Michael Mercado was the new pitcher for Lehigh Valley at the top of the eighth inning. Mercado (1.0 IP, 1 BB, 1 K) threw 17 pitches, of which 9 were strikes.
Max Lazar was the new pitcher for Lehigh Valley at the top of the ninth inning. Lazar (1.0 IP, 1 H, 1 K) threw 12 pitches, of which 8 were strikes to get three outs. In the bottom of the ninth inning, Lehigh Valley third baseman Otto Kemp struck out swinging and left fielder Ethan Wilson struck out swinging. Lehigh Valley shortstop Jim Haley worked a four-pitch, but center field Ryan McKenna was called out on strikes and the game was over.
The IronPigs lost to the Red Sox by the final score of 4-1. The series is tied 2-2. Lehigh Valley finished the night with seven hits and committed two errors. The loss went to Lehigh Valley pitcher Andrew Schultz for his first loss of the season. The win went to Worcester pitcher Brian Van Belle and Jose Adames earned his first save of the season.
Game five between the IronPigs and Red Sox is on Saturday at 6:35 pm on MiLB.TV. Purchase IronPigs tickets for the 2024 season today on StubHub and Viagogo.
