The Lehigh Valley IronPigs (43-22) and the Worcester Red Sox (36-28) played game two on Wednesday night at Coca-Cola Park. Alan Rangel (4-0, 5.26 ERA) was on the mound for Lehigh Valley against Wyatt Mills (2-2, 4.09 ERA) of Worcester.
At the top of the first inning, Worcester shortstop Vaughn Grissom hit an RBI single to left field scoring Nick Sogard for a 1-0 lead. Then, Jhostynxon Garcia hit a solo home run and Nate Eaton hit a two-run home giving the Red Sox a 4-0 lead.
In the bottom of the third inning, Lehigh Valley center fielder Oscar Mercado hit Zach Penrod’s four-seam fastball for a solo home run at 365 feet to left field cutting the Red Sox lead to 4-1. It was Mercado’s seventh home run of the season.
In the bottom of the fourth inning, Lehigh Valley second baseman Rafael Lantigua grounded into a double play scoring Keaton Anthony and it was now 4-2 Worcester. In the bottom of the fifth inning, Oscar Mercado hit an RBI single to left field scoring Josh Breaux and it was now 4-3.
Worcester got those runs back on an RBI single by Nathan Hickey and a two-run RBI single from Seby Zavala that made it 7-3. Lehigh Valley had the bases loaded in the bottom of the sixth inning with a chance to tie the game but Buddy Kennedy struck out on a foul tip.
At the top of the eighth inning, Worcester center fielder Trayce Thompson hit a three-run home run over the wall at center field making it 10-3. At the top of the ninth inning, Trayce Thompson added two more runs and Seby Zavala added another run for a 13-3 lead. Once again, Lehigh Valley did not have the answers tonight as they lose to the Red Sox by the final score of 13-3. The IronPigs losing streak has now reached five games.
The loss went to Lehigh Valley starter Alan Rangel for his first loss of the season. He pitched five innings, allowing five hits, four runs, and five strikeouts throwing 86 pitches, of which 57 were strikes. The win went to Worcester relief pitcher Chris Murphy.
The IronPigs will look to snap the five-game winning streak against the Red Sox on Thursday at 6:45 pm. Purchase IronPigs tickets today on StubHub and Viagogo.
