The Lehigh Valley IronPigs (24-12) played game three of a six-game homestand on Thursday night against the Worcester Red Sox (18-17) from Coca-Cola Park. Andrew Painter (0-0, 0.00 ERA) was on the mound making his Lehigh Valley debut against Cooper Criswell (2-0, 1.06 ERA) of Worcester.
In the bottom of the second inning, Lehigh Valley catcher Garrett Stubbs hit an RBI double to center field scoring Christian Arroyo for a 1-0 lead. It was Stubb’s fourth double of the season. Stubbs went 2 for 3 with a single, a double, and one RBI.
Lehigh Valley starter Andrew Painter had a solid debut. He pitched three innings, allowing one hit, three walks, and five strikeouts throwing 60 pitches, of which 34 were strikes.
At the top of the fourth inning, Worcester third baseman Nate Eaton hit Nicholas Padilla’s curveball for a solo home run at 385 feet to left-center field, and the game was tied 1-1.
Moving ahead to the bottom of the sixth inning, Lehigh Valley right fielder Oscar Mercado hit a two-run RBI single to right field scoring Gavriel Rincones Jr. and Justin Crawford for a 3-1 lead. It was Mercado’s 21st RBI of the season. Mercado finished the night 1 for 3 with a single and two RBIs.
At the top of the seventh inning, rain began to fall at Coca-Cola Park. Koyo Aoyagi was pitching for Lehigh Valley at the time and loaded the bases. The IronPigs brought in Max Lazar but the rain picked up and never let up. The Lehigh Valley IronPigs ended their three-game losing streak defeating the Worcester Red Sox by the final score of 3-1.
The win went to Lehigh Valley relief pitcher Devin Sweet. He pitched two innings with one walk and five strikeouts throwing 30 pitches, of which 19 were strikes. The loss went to Worcester starter Cooper Criswell.
The IronPigs and Red Sox play game four on Friday at 7:05 pm. Purchase IronPigs tickets today on StubHub and Viagogo.
