On Friday night at Coca-Cola Park, the Lehigh Valley IronPigs continued its six-game series against the Worcester Red Sox. This season, the IronPigs are 5-10 against the Red Sox and are 2-8 in the last ten games. Coming into this game, the IronPigs trailed the Durham Bulls by four games for first place in the International League East Division.
One transaction happened before the game as the Philadelphia Phillies sent pitcher Zach Eflin (3-5, 4.37 ERA) to the Lehigh Valley IronPigs for a rehab assignment. Eflin last pitched for the IronPigs in 2018 and was on the mound, while Worcester started Chris Murphy (3-4, 5.92 ERA).
After a scoreless first inning, IronPigs pitcher Zach Eflin gave up a home run to Worcester shortstop Ryan Fitzgerald that went near the Cedar Crest College sign at right field for a 1-0 lead with two outs. It was Fitzgerald’s 16th home run of the season.
Then, Eflin got Jaylin Davis to ground out towards third baseman Yairo Munoz, who threw the ball over to Darick Hall, ending the inning. That was it, Eflin, who went two innings, allowing one hit, one run, no walks, and three strikeouts in 27 pitches, 18 of them were strikes.
Trever Bettencourt was the new IronPigs pitcher at the top of the third inning. He gave up a single to Jarren Duran with two outs before getting Bobby Dalbec to fly out in the direction of Chris Sharpe, ending the inning. That was it for Bettencourt, who went an inning, allowing a hit, no runs, no walks, and one strikeout in 22 pitches, 13 of them were strikes.
In the bottom of the third inning, IronPigs’ second baseman Ali Castillo reached first base on a throwing error by Chris Murphy. Two batters later, with two outs, Yairo Munoz doubled off the wall at center field, scoring Castillo that tied the game, 1-1. It was Munoz’s 15th doubled of the season. Then, IronPigs’ first baseman Darick Hall doubled to center field, scoring Munoz for a 2-1 lead. It was Hall’s 21st double of the year and 76th RBI of the season. Dustin Peterson was next, and he was called out on strikes, ending the inning.
Bubby Rossman was the new IronPigs pitcher at the top of the fourth inning. Rossman walked Johan Mieses with two outs before getting Ryan Fitzgerald to fly out towards Chris Sharpe, ending the inning.
At the top of the fifth inning, Rossman walked Kole Cottam with one out before giving up a single to Nick Sogard. Bubby Rossman was replaced with Jonathan Hennigan. Hennigan walked Jarren Duran before Bobby Dalbec brought Cottam home with a sacrifice fly, tying the game 2-2.
The run was charged to Rossman, and his final stats were 1.1 innings, allowing one hit, one run, two walks, and one strikeout in 29 pitches, of which 15 were strikes. Then, Hennigan got Pedro Castellanos to third baseman Yairo Munoz, who made the throw over to Darick Hall, ending the inning. That was it for Hennigan, who went 0.2 innings, with no runs, no walks, and one walk in 11 pitches, of which six were strikes.
IronPigs’ center fielder Chris Sharpe started the bottom of the fifth inning with a double to left field. Three batters later, Yairo Munoz singled on a soft fly ball to right field, scoring Sharpe to give the IronPigs a 3-2 lead with two outs. Then, IronPigs’ first baseman Darick Hall grounded out to second baseman Nick Sogard, who made the throw over to first baseman Pedro Castellanos, ending the inning.
Brian Marconi was the new IronPigs pitcher at the top of the sixth inning. Marconi got into trouble when he walked Johan Mieses and hit Ryan Fitzgerald with one out. Then, he got out of the jam by striking out Jaylin Davis and got Kole Cottam to fly out towards Jorge Bonifacio, ending the inning.
IronPigs’ left fielder Dustin Peterson started the bottom of the sixth inning with a walk. Then, catcher Rafael Marchan hit the ball that was deflected by third baseman Bobby Dalbec, resulting in a double.
Two batters later, IronPigs’ designated hitter Johan Camargo singled on a fly ball to left field, scoring Peterson with Marchan not far behind, but Marchan was tagged out. Meanwhile, Camargo moved up to second base. The IronPigs led 4-2 with two outs for Chris Sharpe, who was called out on strikes, ending the inning.
IronPigs pitcher Brian Marconi began the top of the seventh inning by walking Nick Sogard. Two batters later, he faced Bobby Dalbec. During Dalbec’s plate appearance, Marconi spotted Sogard trying to steal second base and threw the ball over to Ali Castillo to get Sogard out.
However, he walked Dalbec and Pedro Castellanos, ending his day as Nick Duron replaced him. Marconi went 1.2 innings with no hits, no runs, four walks, and one strikeout in 37 pitches, 15 of them were strikes. Duron got Christian Stewart to pop out towards Ali Castillo, ending the inning.
At the top of the eighth inning, Duron gave up back-to-back singles to Johan Mieses and Ryan Fitzgerald, with Jaylin Davis coming to the plate. However, Duron found a way to keep the Red Sox off the board. First, Duron got Davis to fly out towards Chris Sharpe. Then, Kole Cottam lined out towards Ali Castillo, who made a fantastic catch preventing runs from scoring. Finally, he got Nick Sogard to ground out towards Ali Castillo, who made the throw over to Darick Hall, ending the inning.
The IronPigs blew the game open in the bottom of the eighth inning. IronPigs’ first baseman Darick Hall doubled to left field, followed by another double from Dustin Peterson to right field, moving Hall to third base. IronPigs’ catcher Rafael Marchan was next. He chopped the ball high in the air that Ryan Fitzgerald retrieved, Darick Hall was trying to score, and Fitzgerald threw the ball to catcher Kole Cottam. Hall beat the throw at home plate, and it was 5-2 IronPigs.
IronPigs’ right fielder Jorge Bonifacio was next. He singled to center field, scoring Peterson for a 6-2 lead. Then, Johan Camargo singled on a ground ball to left field, scoring Marchan for a 7-2 lead. Three batters later, Scott Kingery singled on a fly ball to center field, scoring Bonifacio and Camargo for a 9-2 lead with two outs. Yairo Munoz was next but flew out towards Jaylin Davis, ending the inning.
Chris Devenski was the new IronPigs pitcher at the top of the ninth inning. He walked Jarren Duran before getting Bobby Dalbec to ground out towards third baseman Yairo Munoz, who made the throw over to second base but just missed Dalbec for the double play. Finally, Devenski struck out Pedro Castellanos and Christian Stewart to end the game, and IronPigs got a much-needed win, 9-2. The IronPigs had 12 hits and improved to 71-62 for the season.
The win went to IronPigs pitcher Jonathan Hennigan for his fourth win of the year, while the loss went to Worcester starter Chris Murphy. It was Murphy’s fifth loss of the year.
In other scores, the Durham Bulls beat the Scranton/Wilkes-Barre RailRiders 8-6, while Jacksonville shut out the Iowa Cubs 16-0. Lehigh Valley is a half-game behind the RailRiders for second place.
The series continues tomorrow at 6:35 pm. Tickets for the game can be purchased on StubHub, and pick up IronPigs merchandise today at Fanatics.com.
